The impact of COVID-19 on travel bans and processing of immigration applications

During the past few weeks, the Government of Canada implemented many measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the immigration context, these measures included travel bans, the suspension of biometrics and the transition of most Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officers to remote work. The changes were frequent, dramatic and difficult to keep up with. They have left a lot of prospective immigrants wondering what exactly is open with regards to Canada’s immigration programs.

Please note that this article was last updated on April 16, 2020.

Travel Bans

Canada is currently denying boarding to most foreign nationals on flights to Canada. There are, however, numerous exemptions to this.

First, individuals who are travelling from the United States who have been in the United States for at least 14 days before they try to travel to Canada by land, sea or air, can travel to Canada if they are asymptomatic. Such individuals must show that they are coming to Canada for essential reasons and not for reasons that are optional or discretionary, such as tourism, recreation or entertainment.

Second, all temporary foreign workers, as well as international students who have a valid study permit or who were approved for a study permit before March 18, 2020, and foreign nationals who were approved for permanent residence before March 18, 2020, but who have not yet travelled to Canada to land as a permanent resident, can travel to Canada if they are travelling to Canada for an essential purpose.

Third, the immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents can travel to Canada. Immediate family members includes spouses, common-law partners, children under the age of twenty-two and parents. Immediate family members must show that they are coming to Canada for essential reasons and not for reasons that are optional or discretionary, such as tourism, recreation or entertainment.

Fourth, people who are authorized in writing by a consular officer of the Government of Canada to enter Canada for the purpose of reuniting immediate family members can enter Canada.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents continue to be allowed to travel to Canada. A major exception to this, however, is that Canadian citizens and permanent residents who show symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed to board flights to Canada. They can, however, enter by land.

Anyone entering Canada must self-isolate for fourteen days. Individuals arriving must present a self-isolation plan, and if their plan is not accepted they will be placed in a quarantine facility.

Processing Applications

IRCC is continuing to process electronic applications, although the processing of non-essential Electronic Travel Authorizations and temporary resident visas is suspended. Depending on where a person resides, however, there can be issues in completing biometrics or getting an Immigration Medical Exam. The collection of biometrics has been suspended in Canada and the United States. This means that while applications can be processed up to the point of approval, they cannot be finalized until COVID-19 measures are lifted.

IRCC has introduced measures to allow for the temporary processing of applications that are incomplete due to difficulty in obtaining documents because of COVID-19. For example, IRCC is accepting permanent resident applications with scanned photographs, missing photographs, etc. They are requiring that applicants inform them that they could not provide the missing documents due to COVID-19, and to provide the documents once available.

It is not currently possible to flagpole to obtain a work permit or to land as a permanent resident.

IRCC is accepting new citizenship applications, although it has suspended all citizenship tests.

So What Should People Do?

Given the current travel bans and possible processing delays some have put off submitting their applications until the COVID-19 measures are lifted. Many others, however, have decided to proceed, with the thinking being that it is better to get ahead of a possible surge in applications once COVID-19 measure re-open. Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications continue to be approved with extended validity periods and increased durations for low-wage applicants. Express Entry draws continue to happen, and the points have dropped a little bit as people who have not already completed their language test or Educational Credential Assessment can no longer do so. While people who start their applications now are doing so under a period of great uncertainty, it may ultimately prove to be advantageous.

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Steven Meurrens is an immigration lawyer with Larlee Rosenberg in Vancouver. Contact him at 604-681-9887, by email at steven.meurrens@larlee.com, or visit his blog at smeurrens.com.
He writes the “Immigration Law” column for Canadian Immigrant.

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Radio host, The Filipino Edition, Red-FMCity: VancouverCountry of Origin: Philippines

Originally from the Philippines, Joseph Lopez migrated to Canada in 2009 and, like many newcomers, experienced barriers to using his skills where it matters most — in the workplace. This motivated Joseph Lopez to be a public voice, and later be an employment counsellor for the immigrant community.

A public voice as a radio talk show host for The Filipino Edition on RED FM 93.1 and FM 89.1 in Metro Vancouver. RED stands for Reaching Ethnic Diversity and that is what the show is all about. Every Sunday morning, Lopez leads an on-air conversation on important issues providing information that can lead to more informed decision-making on the many facets of life: from job searches, budget management, to health care. The show is live streamed online so listeners tune in across Canada.

Since 2010, as a volunteer reporter for several community media: print and online, Lopez advocated for reforms on highly restrictive professional regulatory processes, conversing with the head of a regulatory board, the premier of British Columbia, city councillors, MLAs and MPs to encourage them to review and improve professional licensing procedures. Public discourse on licensing has been at the forefront partly through Lopez’s reportage. With a concerted effort from stakeholders, some reforms have been achieved to ensure highly skilled internationally trained professionals are given the opportunity to practise their professions and make Canada a safer and better home for all Canadians.

As an employer relations specialist for a non-profit immigrant settlement agency in British Columbia, ISSofBC, Lopez has helped numerous newcomers from all over the world get a job in their chosen profession. Even before this role, Lopez has voluntarily assisted fathers, mothers, youth, singles, and seniors gain employment for their own, and their loved ones’ future.

For Lopez’s untiring service and donation of resources, he has received numerous recognitions and personal commendations. These expressions of gratitude have come from individuals, settlement agencies, churches and community groups.

Lopez continues to be a compassionate and pragmatic source of information and appropriate assistance to immigrants and Canadians.

Halia Valladares is a faculty member at Thompson Rivers University, and managing partner at Global Trading & DS, Inc.

In addition, Valladares is Casa Mexico Foundation’s Vancouver director and serves in the board of the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce as director.

She is the former special projects advisor to the vice-president academic at Capilano University and former dean of the Faculty of Business and Professional Studies.

To sum up her experience, Valladares has been a business professional in leadership positions for more than two decades. She has been a university professor and scholar for the past 17 years. She has served in different administrative positions in universities in different countries for more than 12 years. She also has international business and SCM experience in the private sector, and was the traffic, shipping and receiving supervisor for a Fortune 100 Corporation.

Valladares was a finalist of the Immigrants of Distinction Awards in Calgary, Outstanding performance under 40 in Canada in 2013; was nominated for Alberta Women Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014; received the award for Best Professional Impact 2019 in British Columbia by Red Global, Mexican Talent Network, to name a few honours and distinctions.

She earned her doctoral degree in economics and business administration from Burgos University, Spain. She also holds an MBA in international trade and a master of science in international logistics from Texas A & M International University, U.S.A. and she is a certified international trade professional in Canada (FITT-CITP).

Valladares has participated in more than 60 international conferences as a speaker. She has authored more than 20 research publications including two books, one used as an international business textbook in Canada, as well as several book chapters and journal articles in Mexico, Spain, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Cuba and the U.S.A.

Virginia Guiang-Santoro is the founder of the Filipino Domestic Workers Association of Manitoba (FIDWAM). Founded in the 1980s, it’s an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of its members and all live-in caregivers in the province. FIDWAM is now in its 35th year and continuing to service live-in caregivers in Manitoba.

Giving back to her community and new Canadians has been a theme in the now-retired Guiang-Santoro’s professional and personal life. She was a representative to the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada.

She was also founding member and president of the Cosmopolitan group of Winnipeg, a daughter organization of the Citizenship Council of Manitoba Inc.; chairperson of the Queen’s and Mayor’s Committee of the Philippine Association of Manitoba; mayor of the Philippine Pavilion in Winnipeg; and an International Centre volunteer, welcoming new arrivals in Winnipeg.

For her efforts in supporting live-in caregivers and her community, Guiang-Santoro was the first Filipino awarded the Citation for Canadian Citizenship in Ottawa in 1991.

In 1997, she was chosen as Manitoba’s YWCA Woman of Distinction, and one of 10 selected women on the move in 1999 by the Winnipeg Sun.

She also received a Recognition of Service Award from the City of Winnipeg and a Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2003.

Before immigrating to Canada, she earned a bachelor of arts and bachelor of science in education and a master’s in education in the Philippines, and was a high school teacher at St. Theresa’s High School.

Mario Mauro turns 80 this year, and being a Top 75 finalist honours his rich list of accomplishments as a small business owner, municipal politician and charitable volunteer. Mauro now enjoys a retirement filled with rich community connections in Capreol, the town in which he would earn his first job at the IGA grocery as a teenager after leaving public education to work as many young immigrants did in that era.

His career in the grocery business would come to a premature end with the 1985 sale of Dominion Stores Limited. When he learned that the owners of the local hardware store, Barrand’s Hardware, hoped to sell their downtown business and retire, he invested in a future that would make him the business and community leader that he is today in his retirement. In 1985, he became the new owner and operator of Capreol Pro Hardware.
On the one-year anniversary of taking over the business, an early-morning fire began in the building’s electrical system. It seemed that Mauro’s dream was destroyed in an instant, but he reopened in a renovated space four doors down.

One of the joys of small business ownership for Mauro was the special place it afforded him within the community. At the store, he learned to help them fix their houses. He then started to dream about helping them to fix their community. In 1988, he entered the municipal race and earned his spot on town council. In the next election, the town chose him to serve as deputy mayor.
Mauro also got involved in the community through volunteering with the Capreol Lion’s Club, helping fundraise for local initiatives.
Mauro and his wife have been active members of Sudbury Regional Police Service’s Citizens on Patrol (COPs) program for 12 years. In addition to his driving and dispatching responsibilities, he has also taken on the volunteer post of co-captain, for which he schedules volunteers, maintains the vehicle, and is keyholder for the storefront office.

When Mauro’s son was old enough to play minor league baseball and hockey, he coached these teams. He and his wife put their cooking and butchering skills together to volunteer at the Blue Door Soup Kitchen. When Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church called on him to volunteer on its finance committee, he put his business skills to work to help house a family of Syrian refugees, pave a parking lot, and get the roof fixed over the heads of his fellow parishioners.

Mauro has earned various awards for his volunteer work with the Capreol Lion’s Club, totalling over 35 years of service.

Abdo (Albert) El Tassi

President and CEO, Peerless Garments LPCity: WinnipegCountry of Origin: Lebanon

Abdo (Albert) El Tassi is a well-known Manitoba businessman and philanthropist who works tirelessly to promote understanding, tolerance and respect not only in Winnipeg but globally. El Tassi has called Winnipeg home since 1969 when he started in the shipping department of Peerless Garments Ltd. As of June 2006, he has been the president and chief executive officer of Peerless Garments LP, which is a garment manufacturer and importer carrying two main businesses: leather and cold weather garments. For more than 45 years, he has worked closely with Department of National Defence staff working on the design and development of specialized garments for the military.

Giving back to the nation in which he lives, the community which he serves and the world to which he belongs is a fundamental part of his beliefs. El Tassi has been a major donor to the Islamic Social Services Association, a mosque in Thompson and the Alhijra Islamic School, among others. His support for the school is especially important to him because, he has said, education helps to eliminate ignorance and it fosters understanding of different cultures while promoting a better life.

He gives generously of his time and money to many charitable organizations. At home or work, his door is always open to those in need; whether it be help in finding housing, a job, or providing counselling to new immigrants adjusting to the Canadian way of life.

His philanthropy extends far beyond his community. Over the years he has supported UNICEF, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Canadian Diabetes Association, World Vision, United Way, Variety Children’s Charity of Manitoba, Winnipeg Harvest, Winnipeg Foundation, among others. He has also supported international disaster relief efforts and has sponsored nearly 50 immigrants to Canada.

Recognized for his philanthropy and community service, he was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal; he is a Member of the Order of Canada; he was named to the Order of Manitoba, recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community, presented by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, and he was named Humanitarian of the Year in 2012 by the Canadian Red Cross, among numerous other honours.

One of most in-demand speakers on resilience in Canada today, Zaheen Nanji has shared her content-rich, entertaining, hard-hitting and memorable presentations to enthusiastic audiences such as HR, health professionals, educators and leaders.

Her compelling stories of suffering from a speech impediment to moving halfway across the world as a teenager, without her parents, and just recently surviving breast cancer; has her audience laughing and tearing up at the same time.

Nanji is a TEDx speaker and has been featured on the front cover of Positive HealthMagazine and on various broadcast media outlets in U.K., U.S.A. and Canada. She’s also a two-time best-selling and award-winning author.

Nanji and her husband own Shanti Wellness & Laser Centre in Alberta. She has also been working part time in the field of environmental public health for the last 16 years and volunteers in her faith community as their representative in environmental public health.

A librarian, information officer, entrepreneur, community leader, mother and advocate for social justice, Tuyet Lam’s commitment and dedication as a community volunteer and a professional are driven by her experience as a Vietnamese refugee, coming to Canada from a war-torn country.

She has successfully worked as a medical information specialist of the Calgary Health Region and University of Calgary, Health Information Network. As a proud community leader and ardent advocate for social justice, Lam achieved distinction when serving on the boards of numerous charitable / community organizations including the Vietnamese Canadian Federation, Asian Heritage Foundation, Calgary Vietnamese Canadian Association, Calgary Vietnamese Language School and the Association for the Encouragement of Learning.

Lam’s love and devotion to Canada and Calgary and its friendly and caring communities have greatly benefited a diversity of individuals and groups over the past 37 years. To recognize Lam for her many years of community service and dedication to her adopted country, she was awarded with the prestigious Senate of Canada 150th Anniversary Medal (2018), Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and the Calgary Health Region’s People First Award (2004).

Currently, Lam, a mother of two successful adults, is a partner with Booking.com to provide and manage online reservations and communications to thousands of satisfied travelers around the globe. In particular, she is the co-chair of her lifelong passion, the Vietnamese Boat People Memorial Monument project, Journey to Freedom Park, which was spearheaded by the Calgary Vietnamese Canadian Association.

Tim Sherstyuk

Co-founder, GBattersCity: OttawaCountry of Origin: Ukraine

Tim Sherstyuk is the co-founder and chief commercial officer of GBatteries, an advanced battery technology company. His role encompasses operations, marketing, business development and human resources. Sherstyuk started what would eventually become GBatteries when he was only 19 and studying chemistry at Carleton University. Sherstyuk was frustrated with the lifespan of his cell phone battery, so he asked his father, an electrical engineer, why batteries started losing capacity only months after purchase. This question led to two years of research and eventually the incorporation of GBatteries in 2014.

Fast forward five years, Sherstyuk and his three co-founders have grown GBatteries significantly. The startup employs 20 team members, has 10 granted patents, and has raised millions of dollars from investors including Airbus Ventures, Initialized Capital, Plug and Play, SV Angel and Y Combinator.

The technology GBatteries is developing has amazing potential to accelerate the transition from internal combustion vehicles — one of the main contributors of greenhouse gas emissions — to zero tailpipe emissions electric vehicles. On February 12, 2020, it was announced that GBatteries was selected to receive funding as part of the Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada (BESC) program, a collaboration between Natural Resources Canada, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investor-led fund and the Business Development Bank of Canada. The partnership was created to support the advancement of Canadian clean energy technologies that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will provide up to $3 million in funding.

As a young entrepreneur, Sherstyuk wants to help others and as such, he acted as a mentor with Y Combinator’s Startup School from 2017 to 2019. The program involved providing support to founders on running a startup, while equipping them with necessary tools and resources. Sherstyuk hosted weekly video calls as part of his mentorship and has also met in-person with several local founders.

Sherstyuk is only 27 but already has many years of experience as a founder, chief executive officer, and chief commercial officer in various roles. He has been issued five patents for his work. As Sherstyuk is deeply concerned about the environment and the human impact on climate change, he was recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2020 in the energy category.

In 2012, Tareq Hadhad was a young man studying to be a medical doctor at the University of Damascus in Syria. His family owned a successful chocolate company that had been producing decadent sweets and exporting them throughout the Middle East for nearly 30 years. In very a short period of time, the life he knew and the future he had planned for himself were both forever changed when bombings during the Syrian War destroyed both the Hadhad family’s home and chocolate factory. Hadhad and his family fled to safety in Lebanon, where they lived for three years before finally being welcomed to resettle in Canada as refugees.

Since arriving in his new community of Antigonish, Nova Scotia on Canada’s east coast in late 2015, Hadhad has re-established the family chocolate company and has given it a new purpose. Rebranded as Peace by Chocolate, the main focus of the new business is to spread peace, acceptance, resilience and love through a wide offering of sweets and treats. He also founded a charity, the Peace On Earth Society, funded by a percentage of all chocolate sales, to fund peace-building initiatives across Canada and beyond.

Since coming to Canada, Hadhad has also established himself as a highly sought-after public speaker. He has shared his story and message of peace all over the world, giving hundreds of speeches and keynote addresses at conferences and events of all types. He has been the recipient of Start Up Canada’s National Newcomer Entrepreneur Award, named one of the Top 25 Immigrants in the Maritimes, and selected by Google as the National Hero Case for 2018.

Receiving full Canadian citizenship in January 2020 has been the highlight of Hadhad’s life to date. While his roots will always be in Syria, he is fiercely proud to now be Canadian and cannot imagine a better place to do business, to contribute to society, to grow and to call home.

Hundreds of immigrants are paving their own way to success and contributing to Atlantic Canada’s economic prosperity, thanks to the inspiration and guidance of Nova-Scotia based immigrant leader, Sylvia Abdelgawad.

At 17, Abdelgawad came to Canada from Egypt and pursued a bachelor of science at Saint Mary’s University. She completed her master’s in global health at McMaster University and is currently taking her immigration consultancy degree. Her mission is to create positive change in the world by empowering others like herself to create a path for themselves.
And she is having significant impact.

Abdelgawad founded a social enterprise, Project 360, which helps refugee youth to settle in Canada, by creating a pathway through entrepreneurship. The result was the launch of several refugee-based businesses including Piece of the East and Off the Beaten Path.

She currently works at an innovative, Atlantic Canadian firm called Placemaking 4G (P4G), where she is launching a cluster employment model. The model brings together part-time jobs of two to three employers, to create full time positions. In Nova Scotia, there is a narrative that there are no jobs, and that the province is not a place to stay. But the cluster model aims to change that narrative and help attract and retain talent in Nova Scotia.

You can find Sylvia interning at a local immigration firm and serving on local boards including Junior Achievement Nova Scotia, and One NS. She also contributes to the Halifax Magazine, an immigrant-owned publication, and is empowering her local Rotary Club to support an international program from Egypt.

Abdelgawad has been recognized for her work with a Community Impact Award, Amplify East mention, Young Alumni of the year and the Award of Excellence in Advancing Immigrant Women. However, her list of achievements and awards are no measure for her energy and passion, and a persistently burning desire to serve the vulnerable, and provide a foundation of support for women here in Canada and around the globe.

Her fire-filled personality is the result of overcoming struggles at an early age. At 18, she had no choice but to be financially independent, leading her to work six jobs while completing full-time courses. Her passion to help refugees and immigrants start their businesses is to fight the narrative she faced — that immigrants and refugees are taking jobs.

For Abdelgawad, Nova Scotia is a place where community members have become family, and where she has found her voice.

Svetlana Balaba, who came to Canada as an international student in 2009, has come full circle as manager, international admissions at Humber College. She oversees work of an admissions team to ensure timely processing of more than 20,000 international applications a year. In this role, she leads a team of 17 staff members helping international applicants to fulfill their dream to study in Canada.

Last year, in collaboration with her colleagues from Humber College, Balaba developed and implemented a marketing communications strategy as part of a pilot enrollment manager project. Results of this work have been presented at Ruffalo Noel Levitz conference in Nashville Tennessee in summer 2019. The success of the project was phenomenal and it was extended across the different faculties at Humber College.

Wanting to learn more about immigration system in Canada, Balaba obtained her registered immigration consultant licence in 2018 and opened her own immigration company, We Care Immigration, to assist international graduates to become permanent residents of Canada.

Always looking for ways to give back, Balaba volunteered for Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) Communication Committee at International Network of Tomorrows Leaders and worked with other professionals from other institutions in Canada on communication strategies. As an RCIC, Balaba volunteers for the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants (CAPIC): the professional organization created for Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) on membership and event committees.

Indian-born storyteller, activist, director and actress Shreya Patel is altruism personified. A voice for the voiceless, she has, since childhood, dedicated her life to not only a career in the arts, but also in social work. Her selfless doggedly determined desire to serve and improve the welfare of others are strengths that come from her own experiences.

Her earlier diligent activism work during her high school include working with various charity ventures. Recognizing her years of unflagging dedication to the community, Patel was crowned Miss Teen Sarnia at 17 and went on to the Miss Teen Canada pageant. During her reign, she discovered the platform had given her a much more powerful voice and from her new position, helped fundraise for organizations and causes such as cancer awareness, Terry Fox Foundation and Make A Wish Foundation.

A Ryerson University undergraduate student during the day, she would spend her evenings working on various social work initiatives like spending time with Wish Foundation children, raising money and organizing events.

She moved to India right after and worked with international talent agency IMG to organize Lakme Fashion Week, which lead to engagement roles with Vogue India, Dubai Fashion Week and more. She continued her humanitarian work with non-profit organizations like the Mother Teresa Orphanage and Make A Wish Foundation India. Living in a non-Western country bestowed a new level of humility and insight as she volunteered and visited the orphanage often to provide support for abused and abandoned children, as well as being named a celebrity wish granter for the terminally ill.

Patel’s earnest contributions to the community grow more significant each year, impacting many lives and encouraging others to speak openly about their mental health struggles as the face of national mental health campaign Bell Let’s Talk. Global Affairs Canada has recognized Patel for her advocacy in 2019.

Patel’s desire to tell stories of the voiceless led her to make a documentary, Girl Up, which covered domestic human trafficking. She interviewed survivors along with MPP Laurie Scott, who helped pass a human trafficking bill, and Tamara Cherry, an award-winning journalist who has been covering this subject for years. Toronto International Film Festival partnered to showcase the film at the Civic Action Summit, where civic leaders came together to combat this issue. It has since been showcased at community screenings, conferences and was lauded by members of victim services and the law enforcement community. The documentary is also mentioned on the Forbes website.
Patel also represented her riding of University-Rosedale at the Under 35 Women’s Forum at the Assembly of Ontario after a rigorous selection process. She had the opportunity to spread awareness about human trafficking in front of Members of Parliament. Outside of social activism, Patel is writing a docudrama and is a competitive dancer. She is an honoree of the Women’s Achiever Award and nominated for Forbes 30 Under 30 for the year 2020.

Sharmarke Dubow

City councillorCity: Victoria, B.C.Country of Origin: Somalia

Sharmarke Dubow is a former refugee who fled civil war in Somalia at the age of eight,and spent 20 years seeking safe haven in eastern and northern Africa until Canada offered him a home in 2012.

Dubow cast his first vote on October 20, 2018, and at the same time was elected as a Victoria city councillor. Dubow is the first Somali-Canadian elected to city council in Canada and the first Black city councillor to be elected in Victoria in 152 years. His passion and commitment to diversity and building equitable, inclusive and compassionate communities, and his work for marginalized communities has earned him recognition and respect as a community leader and a voice for bold and courageous policies.

Dubow has extensive experience serving refugee and immigrant populations and in community development. He holds a degree in business technology from the University of Cape Breton and has worked at the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria and the Victoria Immigrant Refugee Services Centre. He has also served on various organizations and groups, including the Canadian Council for Refugees, the Youth Crime Prevention Steering Committee, and the Victoria Tenant Action Group. Since joining City Council, Dubow continues to mentor young youth leaders and speaks at community and international events, sharing his own story and inspiring future leaders.

In less than a year on City Council, Dubow has taken great steps to make life more equitable, inclusive, and affordable for people in Victoria. He’s passed motions to make public transit free, started a renters advisory committee to give tenants a voice, worked to bring an equity lens to decision-making at the city, fought for the addition of affordable housing in Victoria, and initiated reconciliation dialogues between Indigenous and newcomer community members. As someone uprooted from his home with firsthand experience of how scarce resources can lead to drought and ensuing conflict, Dubow knows the climate crisis will result in more displaced people globally. He believes we need to work together and call on our leaders to fight for climate justice.

Shanthi Johnson

Dean, School of Public Health, University of AlbertaCity: EdmontonCountry of Origin: India

Shanthi Johnson, Ph.D., is professor and dean in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. Her research program on health promotion and falls prevention in seniors also extends to the study of aging in place in rural communities, and social isolation especially among immigrant and refugee seniors. She has a well-established research record, having secured significant grants, including CIHR, CFI and others. She has delivered more than 300 presentations, published more than 150 articles and reports in prestigious journals such as the Lancet, appeared before the Canadian Senate Committee as an expert witness, and served on many grant adjudicating panels nationally and internationally including the European Commission, United Kingdom-Joint Call for Research on Ageing, and South Africa — National Research Foundation.

Johnson has significant leadership experiences. She was associate dean in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina (2008–2014). She has served on various boards such as the Eastern Kings Community Health Board and Annapolis Valley Health in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, and president of Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. As a member of the National Seniors Council (2012-2018), she advised the Government of Canada on aging issues.

Other noteworthy recognitions/roles include: Fulbright Scholar in the U.S., Endeavour Executive Fellow in Australia, Global Initiative of Academic Networks visiting professor in India, a Deutscher Akademischer Austaussch Dienst Scholar in Germany, and Understanding China fellow in China. Given her research and leadership, she has been awarded fellow status with Dietitians of Canada, the American College of Sports Medicine and the Gerontological Society of America. In 2014, Johnson was named the Female Professional of the Year by the India Canada Chamber of Commerce and, in 2016, received the Award of Innovation by the Regina Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, she received honorary membership with the Golden Key International Honour Society.

Johnson’s personal and professional work has spanned many communities and groups around the globe, fostered by key tenets of international cooperation, equity and inclusive diversity, which underpin her worldview. She is deeply committed to addressing issues that help elevate the human condition, such as education, health equity, health research, and international dialogue and exchange. She is the proud mother of a seven-year old chess wiz, Joshua, and wife of an academic, Ernest Johnson. “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well” has been a guiding principle in her work and life.

Shahab Anari

Director, North Star SuccessCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Iran

Shahab Anari, Ph.D., is a multiple best-selling author (two million copies sold worldwide), keynote speaker and professional coach, specializing in personal branding. Every year, he speaks at close to 100 events on topics of personal and professional development, and he has helped close to 5,000 people in Canada during the past five years since immigrating from Iran. He is on a mission to help professionals, especially from immigrant origins, achieve tremendous success through personal branding, through his coaching and training company North Star Success.

Anari is a well-known figure in Canada’s immigrant community due to his seminars, conferences, books and social media content. He has close to 200,000 engaged followers on social media that love his work. In 2019, he and his wife held a huge successful conference, the Professional Development Conference for Immigrants (PDCI), at Humber College in Toronto, where they served close to 1,600 registrants.

Anari has many feathers in his cap. More than 20 years ago, he came first in the nationwide University Entrance Exam in Iran among more than one million contenders. He then finished medical school and graduated as a general practitioner, but due to his prominent academic success, he went on to become very well-known as a success coach. Since immigrating to Canada, he has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance and Toronto.com and is now a contributor to Forbes. He’s a member of CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) and he also sits on the board of ICF (International Coach Federation), Toronto Chapter, as a volunteer. During the past few years, he has done a lot of volunteer work for immigrants including free seminars and webinars, mentoring new immigrants with Futurpreneur Canada, and helping newcomers at YMCA.

Anari is a dad of two beautiful sons, Kason and Aiden, and he’s happily married to his wife, Katty.

Serena Chan is a partner in IBM Financial Services sector in IBM Global Business Services (GBS) in Canada, focused on helping clients accelerate digital reinvention, from strategy, technology to incubating and scaling new skills and competencies. Chan was born in Hong Kong and came to Canada in 1989.

Chan has led portfolios of work who have designed new and differentiated legendary customer experiences, implemented award-winning solutions, and adopted AI technologies for customer experience and operational efficiency.

She received 28 personal awards including IBM Delivery Excellence award seven times and Best of IBM in 2017. Her project team received IBM Delivery and Innovation Award in 2019 and shortlisted for top FinTech project of the year in 2019.

Chan holds 16 professional certifications. She is a four-time IBM Redbook author. She is also passionate about helping underprivileged teenagers and represented IBM performed pro bono consulting services in Mexico City for IBM Service Corps. She is also the guild leader for Technical Women’s Guild at IBM and created an apprentice associate partner program coaching consultants at IBM.

Chan was named one of Canada’s Top 50 women in FinTech in 2019 from Digital Finance Institute. She is also the first Chinese woman to become a partner in FSS in GBS IBM Canada. She received a Professional Achievement Award from CPAC in 2019.

Sanga Achakzai

Chair of the Board, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA)City: TorontoCountry of Origin: Afghanistan

Sanga Achakzai was once a refugee child from Afghanistan clenching the fingers of her worried mother. Running across borders to seek refuge in a safe place,Canada is where she found her refuge from chaos and turmoil and here is where she found home.

Achakzai’s journey to leadership has been molded by several significant events that influenced how and where she serves and contributes to society. She is an advocate and champion in promoting equitable and fair employment, housing, education, health and other community resources for racialized and marginalized communities in Ontario.

She is the chair of Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), and steering committee member of Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change for more than four years. She provides leadership in projects and initiatives that build the capacity of South Asian Canadians as leaders, promote health equity through summits held in collaboration with educational and health sector partners such as Ryerson University, CAMH and William Osler Health System, as well as promote employment equity through research and policy recommendations.

Achakzai also provided leadership and guidance to initiatives such as the “Organ Donation Campaign” that raised awareness to more than 1 million South Asian Canadians and registered 10,000 people for organ donation. She also engages with policymakers and key politicians for recommendations and policy advocacy in matters that affect marginalized and racialized communities. Issues she has engaged on include the Poverty Reduction Strategy, Housing Strategy and Human Rights. She also contributed to the Racism Free Ontario Campaign that resulted in the establishment of Ontario’s Anti-Racism Directorate.

At Afghan Women’s Organization, Sanga participated in strategic planning that resulted in diversifying funding streams and enhancing grants that matched the needs of the communities. She also sits on the committees of Local Immigration Partnership – Employment and Health Action Groups and Professional International Networks (PINs). At Catholic Cultural Services, she works with internationally trained medical professionals to create equitable and meaningful opportunities for them so they can reach their full potential. As once a newcomer herself, Achakzai recognizes the struggles that immigrants and refugees face when settling in Canada.

Achakzai is the recipient of Proclamation by the City of Toronto for “Diversity is our Strength” on behalf of Council of Agencies Serving South Asians. Under her leadership, CASSA was recognized for its extensive work on promoting inclusivity through various projects, initiatives and policy recommendations.

Achakzai lives in Ajax with her husband, mother and two beautiful children!

Sanchari Sen Rai is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Education Consultants Canada (ECC) Inc. She is a woman entrepreneur leading an all-women team that has helped thousands of international students work through the onerous process of applying to study in Canada, getting accepted and flourishing both academically and integrating with the Canadian way of life. Sen Rai believes it is vitally important and a social obligation for businesses to give back to the community all that one has learned and earned when one is in a position to do so to create empowering teams and individuals.

Sen Rai came to Canada as an immigrant, started a business from her basement in 2010, to watch it grow into a business that has helped more than 15,000 international students find placements in colleges and universities across Canada and around the world. The business started with a dream, a simple website, an aggressive plan for developing a network of university and college contacts and a burning desire to help international students avoid the many problems they could encounter.

ECC has offices in Toronto and in Mississauga as well as in India and Philippines to cater to different categories of students. Along with that there are representatives in South Asia, South America, Middle East, East European Countries. ECC works with 100 plus representative all across the globe.

From booking standardized tests to helping students fill in the necessary paperwork to obtain the visas and other documentation and assisting with travel arrangements, ECC streamlines the entire process for international students to make the incomprehensible understandable. ECC specializes in providing highly personalized service to both students and their families. Once students are here, the team offers individualized support and acts in many ways as a surrogate family to students who have been uprooted from home, family, friends and country after just graduating high school and finding themselves in a totally foreign land with no supports and often limited language and life skills. ECC provides guidance and help them develop the confidence to succeed. It now offers services to about 500 students each semester and work with 60+ colleges and universities.

Sen Rai has also gone on to help many of them to stay in Canada after graduation to build lives, families and careers in this country, hiring ex-students to pay it forward and help the next round of students to overcome all the hurdles they themselves have overcome.

Sen Rai, who had a degree in hospitality management from India, graduated from Humber College’s immigration consulting program in 2019.

Samer Bishay is president and CEO of Iristel & Ice Wireless, Canada’s leading provider of wireless and wireline IP services. As Iristel’s founder, Bishay led the company from a small startup to an international telecommunications service provider with domestic infrastructure licences on three continents (North America, Europe and Africa). Bishay oversees global and domestic strategies for Iristel and Ice Wireless and their various brands such as Sugar Mobile. He ensures business objectives are in line with telecommunications trends, guaranteeing customers continued success in highly competitive markets.

Well known in the telecommunications field, Bishay is a frequent contributor to various public platforms, from newspapers and television to social media and industry websites. He also actively participates in many public forums that are helping shape Canadian broadband policy — a key to Canada’s future, especially related to rural broadband development and bridging the digital divide.

A licensed jet pilot, Bishay was appointed Honorary Colonel of 34 Signal Regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces in 2019. In this role, Colonel Bishay serves as an advocate for the Regiment and the CAF in general and he helps strengthen the military’s bond with the community. Prior to founding Iristel, Bishay was a lead systems engineer in the Radarsat program at the Canadian Space Agency. He is a graduate of the space and communications program at York University, with an honours bachelor of science degree.

Sal Sabila

Founder, Youth GravityCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Bangladesh

After immigrating from Bangladesh at the age of 10, Sal Sabila was immediately occupied in dismantling every barrier that stopped her from being the best version of herself through volunteer work. This never-ending struggle had kept her at her feet at all times, either fighting the stigmas around mental health or trying to define “home” in a foreign country; both of which inspired her to start her own initiatives.

Sabila is an outstanding young leader and inspiring advocate for youth empowerment. Since the age of 16, she has dedicated herself to supporting the passions and initiatives of young people to improve their communities. By the age of 20, she has founded not just one but two non-profit organizations: first of these, called Youth Gravity. Youth Gravity is an organization that provides young people with a platform to execute projects for the betterment of their communities. Her journey in creating Youth Gravity was born in part out of the realization that racialized young people do not have the same access to leadership roles or opportunities for community engagement and development that adults or non-racialized youth older adults typically do. Youth Gravity works to fill this gap by providing a supportive framework of human resources and skills to help young people plan, fund, and execute ideas to make changes that reflect the needs of youth in their communities.

In addition to Youth Gravity, Sabila has been working on launching a second not-profit organization to address social inequities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by creating an online community for immigrant women who are trying to get involved in the STEM world.

In recognition of the importance of Youth Gravity’s work, Sabila has recently received an award from the prestigious International Queen’s Commonwealth Trust — an organization headed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — whose mission is to promote the enormous potential of youth to create a better future. She also currently serves as the National Alumni Ambassador for Pathways to Education Canada, and has represented the riding of Toronto Centre in the House of Commons as a Daughters of the Vote Delegate this past spring, a national initiative designed to increase representation of women in government. All the while in her spare time, Sabila is pursuing an undergraduate degree in mathematics at the University of Toronto. Sabila is an example of the power young leaders carry within themselves to make a difference in this world.

Renay Ristoff

Client support worker, City of Leduc Family and Community Support ServicesCity: Spruce Grove, AlbertaCountry of Origin: Fiji

In 2013, while working with a homeless patient at Royal Alexandra, Renay Ristoff realized the gift she had was her dedication toward helping people. She applied for and was offered work as a housing outreach worker at the Bissell Centre. This began her career in helping the homeless. Within her first year there, Ristoff one month housed 12 individuals. She went on to be one of the first teams’ members of Bissell Centre’s Outreach Housing Team and was able to house 15 people even before the launch of the team.

Since October 2016, Ristoff has been the housing advocate for the City of Leduc, working with the Family and Community Support Services Office. Over the course of 2017, she helped 181 individuals alone find housing. Ristoff is also involved with the Alberta Coalition for ending homelessness and is the founder of Parkland Women’s Foundation.

Her professional interests focus on involving herself in variety of community services that focuses on housing the homeless. When she is not with her family, she is constantly looking for ways to help her clients through collaboration with other agencies in Edmonton and surrounding areas. Her volunteered experiences vary from participating in Heritage Days in Edmonton to volunteering with Canadian Red Cross Disaster Management Team in the Edmonton area.

In 2018, Ristoff was awarded the ROOPH awards for her outstanding performance in housing and homelessness in Edmonton and surrounding areas. She further went on to start her own nonprofit society called Parkland Women’s Foundation, with a focus on helping women in Parkland county and surrounding rural communities, out of poverty and homelessness. Though her organization does not yet have a charitable status, she is working hard to expand and grow her foundation so one day women in rural communities have accessibility to resources in their own community and do not have to travel to major cities for services.

Ristoff was born in the Fiji Islands, where she was brought up by her grandparents and is no stranger to poverty and homelessness. She herself knows what sacrifices a person often has to make in order to feed one’s family and have a roof over their head. Her educational background started at the University of the South Pacific where she completed a bachelor of education, made possible through a scholarship she received through her hard work in high school. Without this scholarship, Ristoff would not have been able to afford post-secondary education in Fiji. Her educational background presently has advanced to social work where she is specializing in homelessness, substance use and working with clients with mental health disorders.

Ever since his retirement from his professional career, R.B. Herath pursued his other lifelong interests as an author, dramatist, social/political reformist and a peace activist, including as founder of Global Peace Alliance, which aims to empower people and their networks everywhere to build and sustain a culture of peace for generations to come.

Herath immigrated to Canada in April 1990 as a fully pledged professional engineer qualified under the British system. Then, he completed a detailed process before he could practise in Canada in 1994. By this time, he had completed a two-year engineer-in-training assignment with a private consultancy firm and secured employment with the B.C. government afterwards. For the next 13 years, he continued to work with the B.C. government playing numerous roles until he finally retired from BC public service in March 2007. These roles included floodplain management engineer, water allocation engineer, land and water officer, section head/water allocation, and acting regional water manager. During this period, he was especially recognized for his ability to bring difficult negotiations with First Nations and the developers in the Lower Mainland region on related matters to successful conclusion. During eight years of this period, he was also the elected representative of the members of the B.C. Government Professional Employees’ Association in the region. After retiring from B.C. public service, he worked as a private consultant to small hydropower developers in B.C. for about three years.

Highlights of his volunteer and personal achievements in Canada include:

Served as a member of the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform in British Columbia (2004)

Served as a board member of a number of other democracy and peace organizations based in Canada, including the South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy

Wrote, directed and presented at the Michael J. Fox Theatre three stage dramas;

Authored three new books (rbherath.com) that are now available to readers in city/university libraries in and outside Canada

These and other services he provided to the community have been well received. The specific honours and awards he received include letters /certificates of appreciation (S.U.C.C.E.S.S., parents of GPA youth, Member of Parliament Honourable Ken Hardy, and others), special recognitions (African Stages Association and others), and Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism awards (B.C. government), and plaques in honour of my lifelong endeavours to bring peace to the world (GPA).

Piyali Dey is a computer scientist by training, and community activist by passion. Before starting at Microsoft as a program manager for the AI and cloud developer relations team for North America, she spent several years working in enterprise companies and startups as a software engineer. She holds a graduate degree in computer science from North Carolina State University, U.S.A. In her current role, Dey works with the startups, students and professional developers across North America to help them learn Microsoft Azure and solve complex technical and business challenges.

Dey is known across the technical community as an active community leader and a relentless advocate for diversity and equality in tech. The past few years have seen her in various lead roles at major conferences and community groups including IEEE Women in Engineering, Grace Hopper Conference, Women Techmakers, Women Who Code, Google Developers Groups and many others. Building communities and empowering minorities in tech are two of her biggest passions and she has played an instrumental role in shaping many such community groups across Silicon Valley and Vancouver. She currently runs multiple community groups all over Canada with a major focus on empowering women and young girls in technology.

Dey is one of the lead diversity ambassadors (Women Techmakers) for Google and the winner of prestigious recognitions like “Young CSC role model/mentors 2013” by She++, A Stanford University initiative for innovative women in technology and Community Award from Women Who Code in 2017 among various other scholarships from global companies. She has served in major committees/boards for organizations like IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference 2018 and Grace Hopper Conference 2019. She is also a keynote speaker and has appeared in many major national and international podcasts where she talks about her passion and encourages others to advocate for diversity and equality.

Dey is a big believer of the saying “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right,” by Henry Ford. Her journey from India to U.S. and now in Canada has given her lot of exposure to learn new things and make an impact. She moved to Canada in 2018 and could not be happier for making this choice.

A recipient of the Diversity Network Toronto’s Black Role Model Award (2017) and the Canada 150 Business Leadership Award (2018), Nyarayi Kapisavanhu is a community leader, entrepreneur and teacher at heart. Two years after arriving in the Niagara Region Canada, Kapisavanhu recognized the need for an organization that addressed the needs, obstacles and barriers faced by newcomer racialized women to Canada through her own journey.

In 2013, Kapisavanhu founded and is the executive director of TOES Niagara, an organization that works with women from diverse communities and backgrounds, giving them the Tools Of Empowerment for Success (TOES) through multi-lens ( gender, racial equity, etc.) educational workshops, programs and other support services. TOES Niagara is about empowering women to believe in their abilities for personal growth and the growth of their communities, while ensuring that women have a voice at the highest level in business, community and political sectors through programming and strategic dialogue.

Kapisavanhu is also the founder of the Advocating for Black Excellence Awards of Niagara (ABEAN), a Black History Month Gala, in its fourth year running, that showcases the positive roles Black people have played and continue to play in Niagara. ABEAN is a key platform for Black youth mentorship and the proceeds go toward the Wilma Morrison Scholarship fund. To date, the fund has awarded more than 10 scholarships of $1,000 each to Grade 12 students to assist with post-secondary education.
Kapisavanhu is also the creator of the #RecognizeOwnandWalkinYourMagnificence, a series of talks and workshops designed to help marginalized women, victims of abuse and those experiencing low self-esteem, to dismantle the voices of the oppressor (whatever their oppressors maybe) and to reconnect with and use their voices as they recognize their self-worth.

Kapisavanhu is heavily involved in the community, volunteering on many boards and committees, locally and internationally, in various capacities. Locally, she was instrumental in resuscitating and is the past president of the Association for Bright Children of Ontario, Niagara Chapter. She is the current board president for SOFIFRAN (Solidarité de Femmes Immigrantes Francophones) as well as a board member for the YWCA Niagara and the Niagara District Council of Women. She sits on a number of committees such as the Local Immigrant Partnership, Niagara Women and Youth Gathering, the Committee to End Violence Against Women (CEVAW) and is the current co-chair alongside the Niagara Chief of Police, on the Niagara Chief of Police’s Community Inclusion Council.

Muuxi Adam is a young, former Somali refugee who escaped from the civil war and its horrible aftermath. Adam arrived in Winnipeg in 2004 at age 16 with no family or friends, with the equivalent of a Grade 4 education. Today, Adam is a graduate from the University of Winnipeg in 2013 and currently pursuing a master’s in social work at the University of Manitoba.

Adam has extensive experience working with immigrant and refugee communities in Winnipeg’s inner city focusing mainly on settlement issues, gang and street crime prevention, and employment opportunities for newcomer youth.

He is a great advocate for the newcomer community especially for youth and he embodies many of the qualities Manitobans take pride in — resilience, working for the community, gratitude and giving back. Adam also has served on a number of boards and committees in Winnipeg including the Recreation Task Force of the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council, the Manitoba Ethno Cultural Advisory and Advocate Council and the Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg. Adam is the director of community development program at Aurora Family Therapy Centre.

Adam is a co-founder of Humankind International Inc., a non-profit organization that seeks to provide free, quality early childhood care and education and other opportunities to refugee and marginalized children in Dadaab camp and its surrounding areas.

Adam was the recipient of Winnipeg Citizen Equity Committee – Youth Role Model Award in 2007, recipient of the YMCA-YWCA Peace Medals in 2012, recipient of Manitoba Human Rights Award in 2012 and also recipient of Red Cross Young Humanitarian of the Year in 2014.

“Through his experience and the varied aspects of his social work, he has taken his own life-lessons to heart and applied them to helping the disadvantaged and the bewildered find pathways to understanding and self-improvement. His commitment to human rights and his clear-eyed recognition of the harsh realities of global survival, combined with his demonstrated leadership skills, make him an excellent young inspiring Canadian. Muuxi Adam is an individual, who consistently transcends the challenges of his early circumstances in his willingness to make the world a better place for others”. — Max Wyman, former president, Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Mortimer Capriles

Director of sustainability and innovation, Goodwill Industries of AlbertaCity: EdmontonCountry of Origin: Venezuela

Mortimer Capriles is the director of sustainability and innovation at Goodwill Industries of Alberta since January 2018. His responsibility includes leadership of all sustainability projects, including sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement. He is also in charge of improving all sustainability KPIs, including diversion from the landfill, energy conservation/auditing, energy efficiency and other non-financial metrics. Goodwill increased its diversion from the landfill rate by three per cent in 2018 and by seven per cent in 2019.

Capriles also forged several new relevant partnerships with the community in the Edmonton region. One relevant partnership is the one forged with Alberta Reads in 2018. Thanks to this program, more than 1,000 books are donated on a monthly basis to children in Edmonton and Sherwood Park with the goal to improve literacy rates in Alberta.

Capriles is also responsible for the Goodwill Impact Centre in Edmonton. The Goodwill Impact Centre is an amazing concept in Edmonton where millions and millions of items are diverted from local landfills every year while providing training and employment opportunities to persons with disabilities in Alberta.

In his previous role as the regional director of sustainability at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, his responsibilities included leadership of the sustainability program for the four resort properties that form Fairmont’s Canadian Western Mountain Region. During his term in this role, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise was awarded the prestigious Emerald Award in the large business category for its sustainability program. During his term at Fairmont, Capriles implemented numerous new recycling programs and led the company’s effort to sharply reduce its environmental footprint in the Rocky Mountains.

Capriles holds an executive MBA, a bachelor’s degree in Geography, a diploma in hospitality management, and several postgraduate certificates related to sustainability, environmental planning and leadership. He also holds the Environmental Professional Certification awarded by Eco Canada and the Global Sustainability Practitioner certification (CSR-P).

Capriles is fully committed to divert as much as possible from the landfill and to increase awareness in the community about the positive environmental impact of reusing and shopping second hand. As a result, he volunteers at the Emerald Foundation since 2018 to support the non-profit efforts to showcase the most relevant environmental achievements in Alberta, setting an example for all to follow. He has also volunteered for several years in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and in the Capital City Clean up.

Mitra Mohamadzadeh

Founder, Academy of ChangeCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Iran

Mitra Mohamadzadeh is a survivor, high performer and influencer Kurdish woman from Iran who came to Vancouver with her teenage son, Mehrzad, in 2011. She could barely speak a word of English. and diligently worked hard to learn English as her fourth language. In 2014, they moved to Toronto, where she earned certificates in human resources at Sheridan College and ACCES Employment, and Canadian Workplace Essentials with OTEC, Toronto.

In 2015, Mohamadzadeh survived a third car accident — a wakeup-call that transformed her to find her unknowing strengths in that difficult time life. Despite the significant injuries and pain, she got her first job in Canada at the City of Toronto, as an HR clerk and was nominated as a resilient and positive attitude employee, and the 5th Annual Civic Run Achiever/Winner at the City of Toronto.

In 2019, she is the co-author of the best seller Canadian Success: A Collection of Success Stories by Successful Persian Immigrants and the author of the upcoming book Walk with Myself: a Kurdish Woman’s Journey to Freedom featuring her personal and professional development system. This system helps immigrants at any level feel engaged with the world around them so they can live and work more effectively and productively. This book includes her inspirational stories of accepting and embracing change over adversity in Canada. She is also the co-author of the upcoming book Border Crossers: Where Positive Change Meets Positive Leadership.

She is also a member of Canadian Association Professionals Speakers (CAPS), a member of Human Resources Association Professionals (HRPA), a Toastmaster communicator, and founder of Academy of Change to help immigrants at all levels to achieve their personal and professional goals. She also helps organizations to take their executives and employees through the process of developing relevant multiculturalism skills to increase personal and professional growth, effectiveness, leadership, and create more positive change and productive workplaces.

On her 50th birthday on August 23, 2019, she registered a non-profit organization as Growth Centre, a non-profit coaching service and a coaches’ house to build teamwork under Growth Centre’s umbrella to support communities.

She has also volunteered her time to Dress for Success, Welcome Community Centers, Refugee Shelter, the Human Resources Professional Association, Toastmasters International, Ontario Society of Seniors Citizens Organization, University Settlement, JobStart Employment Services, and COSTI Employment Services.

Mike Hurley

Mayor of BurnabyCity: BurnabyCountry of Origin: Northern Ireland

Mike Hurley was born in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, in 1958 and came to Canada in 1983 at the young age of 25. Music and Gaelic football dominated his youth as did soccer, which advanced him to a semi-professional league.

He first settled in Vancouver and moved to Burnaby in 1988. He joined the Burnaby Fire Department in 1988. Throughout his career, he’s held many positions — driver; technical rescue team member; hazardous material specialist; instructor; lieutenant, captain and acting assistant chief.

He was the vice-president of the Burnaby Fire Fighters Association from 1996-2001 and the president from 2001-2009. He was also the president of the BC Provincial Fire Fighters Association from 2008- 2016.

As president of the Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund, he led the effort to raise $15 million to build a facility that accommodates families and burn unit outpatients for Vancouver General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital.

His second “home” is with the Burnaby Fire Fighters Charitable Society. The society raises money for community groups and non-profit organizations, which supports more than 50 charities. More than $800,000 annually is given for bursaries and they operate a nutritional food program that benefits kids at 26 elementary schools, four high schools and four youth centres.

He was honoured to receive the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

He and his wife, Jennifer, have three boys who are in elementary school. He also has a daughter, who is attending Simon Fraser University.

Meryam Joobeur

FilmmakerCity: MontrealCountry of Origin: Tunisia

Tunisian-born writer/director Meryam Joobeur is a graduate of Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal. Her short film, Brotherhood, won the Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2020. She wrote and directed the 25-minute film, which follows the story of Mohamed, who is suspicious when his estranged eldest son Malek returns home to rural Tunisia with a mysterious young wife in tow. The emotional complexities of a family reunion and past wounds lead to tragic consequences.

The film has won 70 prizes at 150+ festivals across Canada and the world.

Prior to Brotherhood, she wrote and directed the short films Gods, Weeds and Revolutions (2012) and Born in the Maelstrom (2017).

She is currently developing three feature films including the feature version of Brotherhood and has participated in the Berlinale Talent Lab (2016) TIFF Talent Lab (2016) and the Rawi Screenwriter’s Lab (2016).

Massi Bakhshian, RN, was born in the small city in Iran with parents who taught her kindness, love and leadership at a young age. Weeks after she immigrated to Canada in 1999, Bakhshian volunteered in a nursing home in Coquitlam, B.C. This role taught her many lessons about culture and family connections.

In 2007, Bakhshian passed her nursing licensing exam and began working as an RN in different health care settings. (nursing home, hospital and at a brain clinic.) Having been involved in health care for more than 25 years, she has come across many situations where she questioned the system and the gaps for seniors. As a result, she started her own business in 2010 called Safe Care Home Support (SCHS). SCHS provides nursing services, live-in caregiver support, palliative care, respite, post-hospital care, Alzheimer and dementia care.

SCHS started with three employees. Through her entrepreneurial spirit, she has expanded her services and employs more than 50 practitioners throughout the Lower Mainland of B.C. In 2019, Bakhshian expanded her business to include a Caregiver Placement Agency to help families find a dedicated professional caregiver from a different country. In Spring 2020, Bakhshian will be opening an Adult Cognitive Wellness Centre in Langley, B.C., a dementia-friendly day program that uses a holistic wellness approach.

Watching what her father and mother went through because of her father’s dementia, Bakhshian has felt the pain and frustration of what their families experience. This motivated her to offer Dementia-Friendly Cafés in three communities with more communities opening soon in order to offer families an opportunity to connect and support with one another.

Bakhshian also serves her community by volunteering as much as she can. She’s an executive officer for CARP North Fraser and is a council member for the Simon Fraser Region – Community Living B.C. In 2015, she started the Langley Seniors & Professionals Alliance and the Iranian Professionals Networking (IPN).

SCHS was honoured to be chosen for first place on the Tri-Cities A List in 2017 and 2018. Bakhshian was also the winner of the 2019 Women Influencers Award for the category Beyond the Call of Duty, by the Women’s Collaborative Hub Society.

Bakhshian plans to continue with her mission to end the stigma around dementia, and advocate and offer support for families affected by dementia.

Maryam Yaqoob

Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) studentCity: CalgaryCountry of Origin: Iraq

Maryam Yaqoob was born and raised in Iraq. She had a happy childhood and was inspired by the incredible women she read about in science class. However, in her early teens, she began to witness discrimination against women, but she always had the internal drive and fierce determination to become an influential woman like her idol Marie Curie.

In 2008, as tensions grew in Iraq, Yaqoob’s family received threats that prompted them to flee their home in Mosul. The Yaqoobs fled to Syria, and Canada welcomed them as refugees. It was tough being a refugee in a new country, learning a different language and culture, but she quickly adjusted and excelled. In 2015, Yaqoob became a Canadian citizen and, in 2017, she was accepted into medicine at the University of Calgary.

Even while learning English, Yaqoob was earning academic awards in high school. In her undergraduate degree in cellular and molecular biology, she received a total of 15 scholarships. Yaqoob was on the Dean’s and President’s Honour Roll and her academic achievements invoked an invitation to join the Golden Key International Honour Society. At graduation, she had the privilege to speak as valedictorian and was chosen to receive the Centennial Gold Medal for extraordinary academics and leadership. She is a co-author of a study using cellular simulations for drug discovery, which has since been published in the Biophysical Journal. Currently, she is a co-investigator in a study that is measuring service inequities in palliative care.

In the community, Yaqoob became involved with the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society and was the co-lead for the refugee team at SHINE where she tutored and mentored incoming refugees as they navigated their new life. Concurrently, Yaqoob volunteered with ARBI, an association assisting those with brain injury and helped rehabilitate them to return to normal life. Through the Schaefer Mentorship Program, she mentors current university students who plan to pursue professional schools in Canada.

In 2018, she co-founded Calgary STEM Cell chapter and partnered with the national STEM club initiative. Her chapter has now recruited more than 500 individuals to the stem cell registry. At every volunteering opportunity, Yaqoob wanted to make a difference in the world.

Yaqoob is now a clerk at the Cumming School of Medicine. She is grateful to have a vocation that allows her the opportunity to constantly grow personally and professionally, but also has a direct and positive effect on her community.

Marc Cohen

Co-founder and president at Leading Edge Orthotics LaboratoriesCity: Vaughan, OntarioCountry of Origin: South Africa

Marc Cohen is co-founder and president at Leading Edge Orthotics Laboratories (LEO Lab), a state-of-the-art custom foot orthotic manufacturer, which is putting Canada on the map as one of the world’s pioneers in 3D-printed custom foot orthotics.

After moving to Canada from South Africa with his wife, Lauri, 11 years ago, Cohen joined a Canadian investment bank. Finding himself working 16-hour plus days and barely seeing his wife, Cohen decided he could make a greater contribution to the Canadian economy and provide a better life for his family by following the entrepreneurial route.

LEO Lab started in a garage almost eight years ago and grew to employ 10 people in the following years. Recognizing the industry to be highly competitive, Cohen researched innovative, disruptive technologies that could take the company to the next level. Following almost three years of research and testing, LEO Lab invested in a first of its kind large-scale 3D printing technology in Canada.

Cohen is proud of the fact that LEO Lab is one of only a handful of companies globally to have incorporated this cutting-edge technology within the custom orthotic industry. They are now broadening their scope of operations to include other orthopaedic products as well as products completely outside of the orthopaedic space. An example is the 3D printing of custom cranial helmets to treat young children with skull malformations. The product is designed to fit their head perfectly and provide real and measurable benefits. This early and precise intervention helps prevent these children from growing up with misshapen heads.

They are in discussions with potential European and U.S. partners to explore making a similar difference to other people in need, on an even larger scale.

Cohen has since launched an associate division called IDEATE3D. It partners with other innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs in bringing their ideas to fruition through 3D printing.

Agnes Thomas, Ph.D., is the executive director of Catholic Crosscultural Services (CCS), a Greater Toronto Area-based non-profit organization that provides programs and services assisting in the settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees. As the chief steward of CCS, Thomas is committed to driving impact for the 30,000 plus newcomers served by CCS yearly in their suite of programs and services. Thomas served in the not-for-profit sector for more than two decades locally and internationally. This includes her time at various L’Arche communities around the world, at the Yonge Street Mission, and the Jane/Finch Family and Community Centre. She also serves on a number of non-profit boards in Toronto.

Indian-born Thomas is a leading community development practitioner and academic with a passion for gender equity, community mobilization and transformation, and organizational change. She has been a long-time advocate for the rights of marginalized groups, both locally and internationally, championing the rights of immigrants, women, children, and people with in/visible disabilities or those in precarious employment situations.

In her leadership role, Thomas is committed to working with various partners to address issues of marginality to bring about transformational change in our communities by investing in people, shifting organizational cultures and diversifying partnerships. Her areas of expertise include immigration and settlement issues, community organizing, governance, policy, strategic planning, community-based research, training, micro-enterprise, and the creation of tools for transformative learning initiatives for organizations and community leaders alike.

Her passion for advocating for the rights of marginalized groups led her to complete and receive her Ph.D. in adult education and community development with an award-winning thesis from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research examined marginality and learning in the realm of informal/cash work performed by immigrant women from Asia. With this study and other community-based research under her direction, she was able to conceive and implement inclusive learning frameworks and analytical tools to listen to voices that are not traditionally heard, nor understood.

Thomas was recognized as a Canadian South Asian Trailblazer and a champion for gender equity by the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), an umbrella organization of agencies providing services to the South Asian community, to celebrate South Asian Heritage Month 2019. She is a firm believer that everyone has something unique to offer and should be given every opportunity to participate and contribute tangibly to society.

Majid Bahrami, Ph.D., is a professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Alternative Energy Conversion Systems at Simon Fraser University (SFU). He immigrated to Canada in 1999 and obtained his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2004 and postdoc in 2006. He joined the University of Victoria as a professor in 2006, and moved to SFU in 2008.

Bahrami has a vision: to utilize waste-heat and seize the power of new materials to develop energy storage, cooling and water-generating technologies with potential to change the world. He has an excellent record of technology transfer and proactively enables his inventions to benefit society. His inventions have opened new avenues for translational research, attracting worldwide attention. His latest invention, demonstrated to both Prime Minister Trudeau and Governor General Julie Payette, enables extracting sustainable supply of drinking water from the atmosphere. A first-of-its-kind prototype, his Hybrid Atmospheric Water Generation (HAWgen) harvests water from air, even in desert climates, by using only low-grade thermal energy such as solar heat and geothermal heat. HAWgen is recognized internationally; Bahrami received the UAE’ MBR International Water Award in R&D for this invention in 2017.

Bahrami has filed eight patents and spun off two start-up companies. His company Watergenics was selected as a finalist for the Most Promising Pre-Commercial Technology (2016) by Technology Impact Award (BCTIA). He is in the process of commercializing and taking the HAWgen technology to the market.

Since joining SFU, Bahrami has proactively engaged national and international industrial partners and researchers from a wide range of sectors to investigate issues around sustainable energy and water systems. He has established the world-class Laboratory for Alternative Energy Conversion (LAEC) at SFU and has attracted more than $30 million of research funding. He has made exceptional contributions to sustainable air conditioning, advanced sorption composites, thermal storage, electronic cooling, batteries, graphite heat exchangers and fuel cells. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals and conferences and trained more than 160 highly qualified personnel, including six professors.

Bahrami was inducted as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2019 for his key contributions to Canada’s engineering profession, specifically sustainable energy systems. In 2016, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) recognized him as a Fellow for his significant
contributions to the field. He has also received Canada “Clean50” Awards twice, in 2016 and 2017, as an entrepreneur and for his contributions on sustainable energy and innovations.

After completing his master’s degree at Princeton University and doctorate at the University of Michigan, Mahesh K. Upadhyaya, Ph.D., moved to Canada with his wife and daughter in 1978. He worked as a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan for four years and then joined the University of British Columbia in 1982, where he has worked for nearly 38 years, serving as a professor, associate dean and senator.

As a student, Upadhyaya received many scholarships, fellowships and awards, including the Golden Jubilee Gold Medal for obtaining first position in university, fellowships at Princeton University and the University of Michigan, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Upadhyaya’s research has significantly advanced our understanding of plant ecophysiology and has provided information useful for Canadian agriculture. He has given talks on his research in many countries (Czech Republic, United States, Canada, Poland, China, Thailand, Kenya, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Zealand and India), has received several awards and recognitions, and has been made a fellow by four prestigious national professional societies in Canada, the United States and India.

In 2004, he received the highest recognition (Excellence award) by his Canadian professional society. His book on the topic of non-chemical vegetation management is a useful source of information on environmentally friendly vegetation management strategies. He is currently working on three other books.

Upadhyaya is an excellent teacher and a passionate mentor. He has trained many students, from the undergraduate to doctoral levels, and researchers from around the world for nearly four decades. For his outstanding teaching, he was awarded the University of British Columbia’s prestigious Killam Teaching Prize in 2006.

Upadhyaya has served his university, profession and community well. In addition to serving as an associate dean, director applied biology program and a senator, he has served as an associate or overseas editor of four research journals and has chaired or served on many significant provincial, national and international committees. For his service to his faculty, he was awarded the J.F. Richard Service Award in 2006, which is given for “outstanding service beyond the call of duty.”

Upadhyaya has developed and nurtured international exchanges by serving as a university coordinator of the South East Asian Regional Cooperation Agreement (SEARCA), which facilitates student exchanges among agricultural universities in the Asia-Pacific region and the University of British Columbia, and as a coordinator of the Dekaban Foundation, which administers faculty exchanges between six Polish universities and the University of British Columbia.

In addition to his interests in music and poetry, Upadhyaya is an active and engaged member of his community. He and his wife have hosted many international students and researchers at their home and assisted them in settling in Vancouver. He has also served as a director of the India Club of Vancouver, helping manage this cultural organization’s scholarship programs, career fests and walkathons for operation eyesight.

Krishana Sankar

Ph.D. researcher, University of TorontoCity: Brampton, OntarioCountry of Origin: Guyana

Krishana Sankar moved to Canada from Guyana with her mother and two sisters to pursue better educational opportunities and overall quality of life, after the passing of her father. Her transition from a hot Caribbean nation to a temperate environment like Canada was very challenging for her and her family. However, she was determined to pursue science while giving back to her community.

After only five years, Sankar became an award-winning and published Doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Medicine. Her scientific research combines biology and engineering to better understand and improve a treatment for type 1 diabetes. During her Ph.D. studies, she collaborated with many groups, including Stanford University. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and she has also authored more than 15 scientific articles and abstracts. She has won more than $100,000 in scholarships toward her scientific research.

Sankar is also a sought-after keynote speaker and science communicator who has presented at more than 30 events locally, nationally and internationally. She has been invited to speak at the prestigious American Diabetes Association, Diabetes Canada and Toronto Science Communication Conferences as a subject matter expert on how scientists should communicate their research effectively.

Because of the many challenges she faced, Sankar is a changemaker and founded several initiatives to improve quality of life of people living with diabetes, underrepresented minorities and mental health in higher education.

She founded the Canadian Diabetes UofT chapter to raise awareness and educate the public about diabetes. She led the community programs and was involved in making educational presentations for the community, which has been presented to more than 500 people. Diabetes Canada recognized the work done by her organization with a Volunteer of the Year award in 2014.

Being a woman of colour and experiencing microaggressions, Sankar also co-founded the Women of Colour in STEAMM Canada, a grassroots initiative that advocates for and highlights underrepresented minorities in the science, tech, arts, math, medicine fields in Canada.

Lastly, Sankar founded GradWriteSlack, using the technological platform to fill the gap of writing and mental health support that graduate students need while completing their academic studies. She singlehandedly runs this group, which grew to more than 500 academics worldwide in 15 or more time zones. She has helped more than 20 trainees complete their Ph.D. dissertations in the short time since she founded the group.

Kris Ontong works in the marketing department of a luxury window and door manufacturer in Steinbach, Manitoba. As graphics and media coordinator, his key duties include looking after the company website and their e-commerce portal for dealers. He also assists in internal communications, and provides informational support to sales managers, dealers and architects.

In 2017, Ontong took on the role of president of the Southeast Manitoba Filipino Association (SEMFA), where he revitalized the organization with projects that helped newly arrived Filipino immigrants get settled and integrate more effectively with the local community. After Ontong, Kris co-founded the Eastern Manitoba Broad Alliance for Cultural Enrichment (EMBrACE), an umbrella organization of the region’s various ethnocultural groups. EMBrACE aims to give the steadily growing multicultural population a stronger voice in the community. As its founding vice-president, he spearheaded the production of a video montage for International Migrants’ Day, and a well-received multicultural art exhibit in early January.

In 2019, Ontong was named to the board of directors of the Manitoba Filipino Street Festival. He was also appointed to the executive board of the Filipino Music and Arts Association of Canada, Inc (FMAACI). In that same year, Ontong embarked on a personal project to get the vote out for the provincial and federal elections. He interviewed candidates from the three major parties to let them explain the electoral process and the differences in party platforms. This endeavour attracted the attention of CBC Manitoba, which invited him to their morning radio show and then to their Election Night coverage to be among the in-studio reactors as the election results came in.

For his active community advocacy, Ontong was among the awardees in the 2019 National Filipino-Canadian Heritage Event. He was also nominated for the Community Service category of the third Golden Balangay Awards, a nationwide search for outstanding Filipinos in Canada.

Among his various roles though, Ontong is most passionate about Barangay Canada, a media project that he co-founded with colleagues based in the different provinces. Inspired by his SEMFA stint where he noted key factors that empower newcomers to successfully integrate and thrive in their respective locale, Barangay Canada’s main activity is to visit newcomer groups in rural areas to learn and share how they are building a life in Canada. By sharing this knowledge, these communities will hopefully be able to connect and support one another like a “barangay,” the Filipino term for a small self-supporting village. In Manitoba, Ontong manages the provincial chapter known as Barangay Manitoba. It can be found as a media blog on Facebook, and on print media as a column in the Manitoba Filipino Journal.

Kanwar Dhanjal moved to Canada in 2007 and started Just Instruments Inc. in 2008. He has been successfully running the company in the sector of instrumentation in Canada and has been achieving growth every year. An entrepreneur and a highly experienced technocrat from India, he has vast experience in the field of industrial instrumentation and automation, providing full service of sales, repairs, calibration and automation solution for process control instrumentation. He provides state-of-the-art control and automation solutions with honesty, integrity and creativity.

He has been a life member of the Indo Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Toronto since 2009, serving as president in 2017-2018. Previously, he also served as its director for trade and commerce (2018) and SME and trade (2017). He was also the chair of its annual gala in (2015-2016) and its energy committee (2012-2014)

He led a business delegation to different parts of India, and signed MOUs with TCPI, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce. He also led the business delegation with Prime Minister Justine Trudeau to India.

Dhanjal is also a director on the Brampton Board of Trade and currently chair of its trade and investment committee. With the Brampton Board of Trade, he visited Turkey to attend the Kocheilli Expo, Arab Health Show in Dubai and more, and participated in various receptions for delegation visiting Brampton from Pakistan, India, Ukraine and Turkey.

Dhanjal has also been a member of the City of Brampton’s economic development master plan committee, the Rotary Club of Brampton, and the executive member of the fundraising committee for Big Brothers Big sisters of Peel – Brampton

He received the Face of India award by Colours of India (2014); a recognition award by My India in Canada Association (2018); a recognition award by Trade Promotion Council of India (2019); Kotler Award, Canada in excellence services award (2019); Influential Technocrat Award by IMEC, Canada (2019). He as also featured in the top 75 Punjabis across the world in Jewels of Punjab.

Joaquin Manay

CG artist, The Vanity VFXCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Uraguay

Joaquin Manay (aka Joey) was born in Uruguay and came to Canada in 2003. He graduated from Brock University in 2013 with a BA in VISUAL ARTS and graduated from the visual effects postgrad program at George Brown College in 2017. Manay has worked as a part-time professor at George Brown College teaching 3D visualization and is currently working as a CG artist for The Vanity VFX. Along with The Vanity Team, he has worked on commercials for national and international agencies, such as the International Olympic Committee, Pathways to Education, Sick Kids, Hockey Canada, Wendy’s and Best Buy, to name a few ( http://thevanity.tv/ ).

Manay is also involved in the community through facilitating beatbox workshops that empower others to find their voice.

​As an artist, Manay strives to achieve personal development by exercising various methods of creation. These include visual arts with traditional, digital and 3D media as well as motion and sound. He has worked with many organizations as an exhibiting artist, instructor and performer. These organizations include Unity Charity, Art Gallery of Ontario, the Station Gallery, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Turn-Around Project, Beatbox Canada, Surrey Place, the Livingroom Community Art Center, the City of Oshawa and many others. Manay encourages others to join him by exploring their own creativity. He was awarded the Oshawa Culture Counts Emerging Artist Award in 2019.

Jean Roberth Souza is science project coordinator at Compute Canada. As such, Souza is responsible to provide project management support to Compute Canada programs, its partner organizations, as well as to corporate activities related to advanced research computing (ARC) across 40 research universities in Canada.

Souza joined Compute Canada in December 2015. Previously, he had been academic information technician at Cégep Heritage College; membership coordinator for the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC); Global Affairs Canada international scholarship program manager for the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE); and client tracking officer for the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC).

Souza speaks English, French, Portuguese (mother language) Spanish, and German. He earned an MBA on corporate communications at UPIS Brasilia, Brazil (2007). He earned a BA in communications / public relations from UniCeub Brasilia, Brazil, in 1989. He has a Certificate of Teaching English as a Second / Foreign Language (TESOL / TEFOL) granted by the American Brazilian Bi-national Cultural Center Casa Thomas Jefferson in Brasilia, Brazil (2005).

Souza is a very active volunteer member in the newcomers’ community in Ottawa / Gatineau. His daily posts through social media sharing a wide range of opportunities (volunteer work, free language training, cultural activities, and job fairs) have been assisting thousands of immigrants and many success stories have become possible due to this share of information. In June 2018, he received the Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador Award by Mayor Jim Watson and the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP-PLIO) due to his voluntary work connecting immigrants through social media.

In 2017, Souza was selected to represent Brazil in the “MyCanada150” Photo Exhibit on Sparks Street, Downtown Ottawa, on the Multiculturalism Day celebrations in Canada (June 27, 2017). This photo exhibit was organized by the Global Shapers organization displaying success stories of newcomers in Canada.

Jason Pang has been at the forefront of environmental initiatives in Richmond and beyond since high school. As an immigrant from Hong Kong, he grew up in Richmond, B.C., and is currently studying toward his bachelor of science in global resource systems at the University of British Columbia.

Pang’s passion for environmental sustainability began through his high school’s green team. He noticed the drastic division in conservation efforts between the City of Richmond and his hometown back in Hong Kong. When he transferred to Richmond Secondary in 2016 and found that there was no active environmental club, he re-started one himself and became its president. Under his leadership, the Richmond High Green Team has launched a number of initiatives, from raising his school’s waste diversion rate from 28 to 44 per cent, starting the district’s first Solar Energy initiative, and leading his city’s first climate emergency strike.

As the president, Pang was also a team leader with the City of Richmond’s Green Ambassadors. The group made up of local high school students, organizes a variety of environmental initiatives, including the annual Richmond Earth Day Youth (REaDY) Summit, waste diversion programs at city events and activities aimed at preserving local native habitats. As a Green Ambassador team leader, he spends considerable time planning monthly symposiums, in an effort to further develop the group’s student leadership and educate his peers about pressing environmental issues.

2019 is Pang’s first year in university where he has become his family’s first-ever post-secondary student made possible by UBC’s Centennial Scholars Major Entrance Award and the Beedie Luminaries Scholarship. On campus, he is the elected first-year student representative for the Faculty of Land and Food Systems entrusted in voicing the concerns and opinions of all first-year students to enhance their first-year experience. Pang leads the first year committee in the planning of student events based on faculty bonding, academic support, professional development, environmental sustainability, health and wellness.

A rising star like Pang shines not only through the leadership positions he has taken on, but also through the relentless strive that sets himself apart from other youth his age. While still only 18 years of age, his genuine passion and his committed involvement within the youth and the environmental community have made him an inspirational figure to many. He is enthusiastic about the environment, strongly advocates for sustainable change, and models the way for others to be part of a greater impact on environmental sustainability as one of Canada’s Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalists awarded by Starfish Canada and one of the world’s Top 30 Under 30 Environmental Educators awarded by the North American Association for Environmental Education.

James Baker

CEO, Keynote GroupCity: OttawaCountry of Origin: Englad

Originally from England, James Baker relocated to Canada in 2006 as part of a team to launch a global recruitment business in Ottawa. After spending more than a decade in the industry, Baker founded Keynote Group in September of 2015, as a solution to what he saw as a broken recruitment industry.

As an industry leader in executive search, Baker has been asked to deliver presentations, workshops and participate on panels at some of the most popular conferences and events, including the keynote address at Ottawa’s Talent Summit in 2019. He is very active in the community and sits on the advisory board for the Ottawa Board of Trade, the Family Enterprise Xchange (FEX) and a cabinet member for the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation. He has been recognized for his achievements and success in Canada and was recognized by the City of Ottawa in 2018 when he was presented the Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year.

In addition, Baker has been the recipient of a Young Entrepreneur Award from the West Ottawa Board of Trade in 2017, and he was a Forty Under 40 recipient from the Ottawa Business Journal in 2012. Since the company’s creation, Keynote Group has been highly awarded and recognized for its innovative approach to executive search and headhunting under Baker’s leadership. Among other accolades, Keynote Group was named Best New Business in 2016 from the Ottawa Board of Trade, recognized as Ottawa’s #1 Fastest Growing Company in 2018 and #4 in 2019 by the Ottawa Business Journal.

Jakub Martinec

Artistic director, Atlantic Boychoir and National Boychoir of CanadaCity: St. John’s, Newfoundland and LabradorCountry of Origin: Czech Republic

Jakub Martinec, Ph.D., is director of choral activities at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the founding artistic director of the Atlantic Boychoir, the first provincial choir of boys and young men in Canada, and the artistic director and conductor of the National Boychoir of Canada (NBCC).

Martinec holds a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Western Ontario and his research focuses on a comparison of European and North American perspectives on choral conducting as well as investigations of early Czech choral literature, and pedagogical strategies for teaching adolescent male singers.

Born in the Czech Republic, he was the artistic director of the renowned Czech Boys Choir. Martinec has recorded for national TV and radio in the Czech Republic, and has directed on numerous CDs and DVDs; his recording of Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols received a Recording of the Month award by the London-based Classical Music Web in 2004.

Martinec has performed with eminent orchestras, ensembles and musical personalities in some of the world’s most famous concert halls and cathedrals , including Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg, Germany (2005, 2009, 2011, 2017), Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, USA (2004), Winspear Hall in Edmonton, Canada (2006), Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada (2012), the Pantheon and the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome for the leaders of the Vatican (2009, 2010), Truro Cathedral, UK (2013) and regularly at the Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall and Smetana Hall in Prague. With his choirs, he performed the opening concert of choral cycle of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (2006), and has appeared at numerous international music festivals including the Prague Spring Festival (2004, 2005), European Festival of Youth Choirs “Giuseppe Zelioli” (2003, 2012), AmericaFest International Festival for Boys’ & Men’ Choirs including the VIth World Choral Symposium in Minneapolis (2002), Festival d’Ambronay (2006), Mitte Europa (2008, 2009, 2013), and the highly acclaimed World Festival of Singing for Men and Boys (Prague, Hradec Kralove, 2004, 2008).

Israa Hilles was born in Abu Dhabi to a Palestinian family from Gaza Strip. She has a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from the University of Cambridge in Egypt and worked in Development Alternative Inc. DAI-USAID in Palestine, before moving to the U.S.A. to study entrepreneurship and small business development. She is an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni. Her background education opened a few doors for her and qualified her to lead various management and leadership positions such as managing partner, public relations manager and office manager. That was a total of 15 years of management experience.

Hilles always wanted to move to Canada. For her, Canada is a secure, multicultural country that believes in human rights and that encourages industrious, creative and innovative people to pursue their goals. She had always wanted to live here and open up a business here. So, in January 2015, after completing her studies in the U.S.A., Israa packed her bags again and headed north. She visited Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Halifax, and finally decided to settle in Montreal. She fell in love with the city and found everyone so helpful and cooperative. As a young single woman with no family or support network in Montreal and no knowledge of French, the odds were stacked against her. This certainly was not easy at first; however, she was up to the challenge.

Currently, Hilles is the founder of Escritoire, a thriving co-working space in Montreal where entrepreneurs, young business owners, and freelancers innovate, collaborate and transform great ideas into successful businesses.

Hilles is very proud to say that in 2018, she won the OSEntreprendre Challenge award (Montreal region) as well as the Futurpreneur Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year award in recognition of her leadership, business savvy and contribution to the entrepreneurship community.

She believes that like most immigrant entrepreneurs, she needed help and
guidance to enter the Montreal business market. Hilles advises newcomers to keep an open mind, be positive and patient with yourself because change and success take time. She encourages them to volunteer as much as they can and to focus on their goals.

Isaac Garcia-Sitton

Director of International Education & English Language Institute at York UniversityCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Spain

Isaac Garcia-Sitton is a respected leader in the higher education sector and a seasoned MBA with more than 17 years of experience in international relations and business development. Born in Barcelona, raised in Panama, and trained and educated in the United States, Garcia-Sitton served as a diplomat for Panama, working at the Consulates in New Orleans in 2005 and in Montreal in 2007. At the end of his diplomatic post, he decided to apply as an immigrant to Canada through the skilled worker program in Quebec.

Currently, he is the director of International Education & English Language Institute (YUELI) at York University’s School of Continuing Studies. During his tenure, YUELI became the largest university provider of Academic English training in Canada, with annual enrolments of 3,600 from over 50 countries. Under his direction, YUELI has risen in reputation both in Canada and globally (securing 100+ partnerships internationally) as a provider of English language training to students interested in continuing their education or those with international work experience who wish to gain a foothold in the Canadian labour market. These efforts continue to position Toronto and Canada as one of the best study-abroad destination in the world.

Garcia-Sitton continuously strives to improve the environment around him through his involvement in national and international professional associations, international boards and community initiatives. He was named as one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians of 2018, a recognition organized by the Hispanic Business Alliance. In 2016, Garcia-Sitton was the only Canadian recipient of a scholarship from the Organization of the American States and Instituto de Empresa to complete a Global Senior Management Program, co-created by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the IE Business School.

In 2015, Garcia-Sitton was recognized by the Salvadoran Government with the Ministerial designation “Amigo de El Salvador,” for his continued dedication to social development initiatives in support of low-income individuals. He has been invited to speak at international meetings and conferences to share his experiences and opinions on topics such as diversity and inclusion, the art of doing business in Latin American, and international education.

He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in education: language, culture & teaching at York University. His research interest is the role of cities in attracting international students and the differences and intersections that post-secondary institutions’ internalization strategies play in supporting these efforts.

Harsh Thakkar is an accomplished professional and business leader with more than 10 years of experience in managing regional and global operations across a broad array of industries: language service industry, telecommunication, sports within the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Throughout his career, he has developed and led high-performing teams, improved business performance, and directed strategic projects and initiatives to accelerate revenue growth.
Always leading with positivity and collaboration, Thakkar is a charismatic leader with desirable people management skills.

Thakkar’s journey from international student in 2001 to Canadian immigrant has been incredible as he came across wonderful people who gave him opportunity to learn, grow and inspire. He completed a Diploma in Business Administration and Degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership. As a student, he was elected campus representative for two years where he raised awareness on reducing student fees, becoming a voice for students at the Parliament in Ottawa.

He also served as a peer mentor for international students on settlement issues, and organized several campus events for students from different countries highlighting their culture.

Professionally, he worked with the Vancouver International Marathon Society in a managerial role to promote the marathon event and increase tourism to B.C. He then worked in the American Sign Language industry for seven years managing call centres in British Columbia that provide ASL services to Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

Today, he is the leader behind the interpretation and translation social enterprise at DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society. He leads a team of several full-time employees plus 300+ contractor interpreters and translators. Under his leadership, he has grown the business and expanded its offerings to include diverse languages, including many rare ones, ASL and even Indigenous languages. His goal is to help organizations, both public and private, to communicate with newcomers and marginalized communities without barriers. In a country as multicultural as Canada, no one should be left out of the conversation or lack a voice in arenas such as the courts and health care in particular. He recently led a successful proposal to become a designated provider for provincial and municipal government interpretation and translation needs.

As a social enterprise, proceeds from DIVERSEcity Interpretation and Translation Services benefit the non-profit programs and services offered at DIVERSEcity. Its proceeds have also allowed DIVERSEcity to create an Innovation Fund that allows its leadership team to pursue innovative programs for marginalized communities that may fall through the cracks of traditional funding.

If that didn’t keep him busy enough, Thakkar also leads DIVERSEcity’s CELPIP/CAEL Language Testing Centre, a language test newcomers take to prove their English for their immigration and citizenship applications (CELPIP), and post-secondary admission (CAEL).

Thakkar has also been an active volunteer for Canadian Cancer Society – “Sirf Dus” program to raise awareness in the South Asian community to increase awareness about cancer prevention. In 2011, he organized a fundraising campaign “Students for Homeless” and raised more than $5,000 to provide care packages to homeless individuals across Lower Mainland.

He aims to continue giving back to the community and motivate newcomers through his journey. His motto is “It Takes One to Help Another.”

Hamza Haq

ActorCity: OttawaCountry of Origin: Saudi Arabia

Named a Canada Rising Star by the Hollywood Reporter in 2017, Hamza Haq stars as Bashsir “Bash” Hamed in the new CTV medical drama Transplant. The series centres around an ER doctor who fled his native Syria to come to Canada where he must overcome numerous obstacles to resume a career in the high-stakes world of emergency medicine.

In 2018, Haq appeared alongside William Shatner and Russell Peters as twins Amal and Gopal in the CTV mini-series Indian Detective, and earned critical acclaim as Raza Ali in the CBC drama This Life, for which he earned a 2018 Canadian Screen Award Nomination for Best Guest Performance. Other notable credits include recurring roles on the Cinemax series Jett opposite Carla Gugino, Quantico starring Priyanka Chopra, and The Art of More with Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth.

He has also appeared in Designated Survivor, The Bold Type, Being Human, and Best Laid Plans. He hosted two seasons of the International Emmy Award nominated children’s series Look Kool and plays Jassie on the CBC Gem digital original drama The 410.

On the big screen, Haq holds supporting roles in Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 with Colm Feore, The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan directed by Xavier Dolan, Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! and Run This Town, detailing the turbulent final year of Rob Ford’s tenure as the mayor of Toronto. Most recently, he appears opposite Margaret Qualley in the My Salinger Year which opened the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020.

Raised in Ottawa, Haq is youngest of four siblings born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents and has called Canada home for almost 20 years. He holds a bachelor of arts in film studies with a minor in law from Carleton University.

Francyelle Fernandez

Nurse practitioner and Adjunct professor, University of TorontoCity: London, OntarioCountry of Origin: Brazil

Francyelle Fernandez is a nurse practitioner (NP) at London Health Sciences Centre who focuses on the care of palliative patients and their families in the acute care setting. In this position, her role is to treat pain and provide symptom management while working in a multidisciplinary team. She also takes pride in affecting change by educating nurses, mentoring and advocating for NPs and addressing gaps in services. Fernandez also is a NP member of the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee where she reviews policies, reviews and approves formulary medications and medical directives among other responsibilities with a team of physicians and pharmacists amongst others.

Fernandez was born and raised in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She came to Canada in 2003 to pursue her professional career. However, this was not without challenges as Fernandez had to learn English and support herself. Within a short time, she secured employment with housekeeping and nannying while studying English. After several years, she enrolled in the bachelor of science in nursing program at Ryerson University. During her third year, she returned to Brazil with an interdisciplinary team after receiving a grant from the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada to ascertain the causes of violence in vulnerable communities as a knowledge exchange project. Upon her return, she continued to volunteer at the Oshawa Cancer Centre where she assisted patients undergoing treatment.

Fernandez’s drive was relentless, and she furthered her education by attending the University of Toronto, where she completed her master’s of nursing and adult nurse practitioner degree, while working as a registered nurse in the emergency department at Lakeridge Health, Oshawa.

By being multilingual and having experience as a landed immigrant, Fernandez wanted to contribute to the Portuguese-speaking community. She did this by researching and publishing a paper on the impact of social supports for breast cancer management among women in this community. Additionally, she was invited to speak on Omni TV in Portuguese, educating about influenza and vaccinations as well as the role of the nurse practitioner.

After 17 years in Canada, she is now proud to be working as a nurse practitioner as well as holding an appointment as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, which allows her to be an advocate for change both clinically and academically.

Federico Rosei

Professor and UNESCO Chair and Canada Research Chair, Institut National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCity: MontrealCountry of Origin: Italy

Born and educated in Italy, Federico Rosei served his birth country as an officer in the navy and published an award-winning novel entitled La Strada Non Percorsa (the title is a literal translation of “The Road Not Taken”) in 2000.

He earned a PhD in physics in 2001 from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (one of the oldest Universities in the Western World), then joined Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique in Montreal as assistant professor in 2002. He climbed the ranks at record speed, being promoted to full professor in 2009. He served as director of its Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications between 2011 and 2018.

A prolific scientist, Rosei has co-authored more than 340 articles in prestigious international journals. His research is widely respected globally, as he has been invited to speak at more than 320 international conferences and has given more than 240 lectures at universities and 60 professional development lectures in 45 countries on all six continents. Committed to outreach, he has given more than 40 public lectures on the “Energy Challenge” and co-authored a TED-Ed animation (https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-100-renewable-energy-power-the-world-federico-rosei-and-renzo-rosei) on the same topic, viewed more than 842,000 times in two years.

Rosei advocates for a global approach to societal development through education, scientific research and innovation and giving opportunities to young scientists, regardless of their background or origin. His service to different international professional communities is matched by his effort to mentor and train the next generation of scientists and engineers and foster diversity. He supervised more than 150 trainees from 41 countries, many of whom received prestigious fellowships and awards and obtained leading positions both in science and in society; 19 former trainees are professors in 11 different countries, including five in Canada. Capitalizing on his vision, talent and leadership, he created the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage, whose objective is to obtain access to sustainable energy for all by sharing knowledge in emerging energy technologies. Launched in January 2014, it established a worldwide network that pushes the boundaries of science to address pressing societal challenges towards a global culture of peace and sustainable development.

Elected Fellow by more than 20 prestigious national academies and professional societies (including the Royal Society of Canada), Rosei has received more than 40 prestigious national and international awards and honours, including: a Senior Canada Research Chair, the NSERC Steacie Fellowship (received from the Governor General of Canada), the Rutherford Medal (Royal Society of Canada), the Polanyi Award (Canadian Society for Chemistry), the Khwarizmi International Award (Iran), the Vasconcelos Award for Education (World Cultural Council), the Chang Jiang Scholar Award (China), the John Wheatley Award (American Physical Society), the Blaise Pascal Medal (European Academy of Sciences) as well as prominent prizes, medals, distinctions and honorary professorships from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Germany, Iran, Mexico, Singapore and the U.S.A.

Faryal Diwan

Social planning associate, Social Development Centre Waterloo RegionCity: Waterloo, OntarioCountry of Origin: Pakistan

Faryal Diwan is a social planning associate at Social Development Centre Waterloo Region, where she researched, led and created a mapping displacement project on affordable housing, and displacement lost due to gentrification. Presently, she is the only one in the region collecting this data, which she hopes will direct policy change for affordable housing. Through this work, she hopes to advocate for equitable housing, which is severely needed here and in other parts of Canada.
Building a tightknit community is everything to her. She believes being present and supporting community members and fighting for each others’ rights is what makes us stronger. It’s a commitment she made to myself when she moved to this region. How can you thrive in a community if you’re not a part of it, she asks?

She volunteers for and supports many organizations in Kitchener-Waterloo ranging from the arts, climate justice to human rights. She is a board member for Feminine Harbor (not-for-profit organization that creates safe and equitable spaces for women of different generations/cultural backgrounds so they can share their stories), a member of Coalition of Muslim Women (empower Muslim women and girls to be leaders and change makers) and community engagement coordinator for Bring on the Sunshine (BOTS) (to create a positive community space for people of African descent).

In addition, she volunteers for Wellbeing Waterloo Region, Neruda Arts, MT Space, Green Light Arts, sits on three committees for City of Waterloo, and is on the social inclusion group at Immigration Partnership. Previously, she has volunteered for Reception House as an english tutor for their English Outreach for Women initiative and as part of their arts program, and YWCA mentoring high school students through a social justice lens as part of their Community Sheroes program. Mentoring youth has been a rewarding experience for Diwan.

She also started a Salsa for Seniors program that ran in 2017-2018 at the Kitchener Downtown Community Centre. Diwan was one of 10 recipients of the Greenbiz Emerging Leader award in 2018.

Fariba Pacheleh is a passionate and high-performance leader specialized in integrating and delivering project management and information technology solutions for strategic success.

She started her career as a hardware engineer in Iran and after moving to Canada has worked in diverse industries and driven transformational solutions while navigating through highly complex and regulated businesses in public, private, and government sectors.

Her background in technology and leadership roles enables her to stay alert to disruptive landscape and ensure business is ready to respond to rapid changes in the industries and cultural shifts while keeping a laser sharp focus on strategic objectives.

She’s worked for a number of international companies such as Siemens and Finning, and now finds herself at the BC Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) where she serves as the director of Project Management Office.

Pacheleh’s strengths reside in her ability to provide teams with vision, values and guidelines to enable them making the best possible decisions to advance the organizations’ objectives.

Throughout her career, she has invested a lot of time and energy giving back. As an immigrant woman in STEM, Pacheleh has been actively advocating for diversity, inclusion and equity in the Tech Industry.

As a national leader of the Gender Equality Network Canada (GENC), she has worked with a pan-Canadian network of 150 women leaders to advocate for policy change, build inclusive intersectional leadership, and take collective action to advance gender equality in Canada.

As the chair of BCIT School of Computing PAC (Program Advisory Committee), she works with technology leaders in B.C. to provide strategic advice and assistance to BCIT to retain its reputation and strengthen its place.

Pacheleh has been involved in many other organizations that support immigrants and women in technology. She’s been president of SCWIST (Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology) where she made a presentation to the House of Commons on the Status of Women with focus on equity and equality gaps in STEM field, founder of IEBCA (Iranian Engineers of BC Association), board member of many other organizations, and speaker in a wide range of events. She’s worked with the WEB Alliance of Women Business Network, United Way, WiredWoman Society, Unicef Canada and Engineers Without Borders (EWB).

Eno Eka is a business analyst and change manager based in Calgary, Alberta. She is an award-winning career coach and speaker who has been recognized for helping more than 1,000 immigrants kickstart their professional careers in Canada. She is a business analysis content developer and course instructor at the University of Manitoba.

She is the head coach and principal consultant at Eny Consulting Inc.

Eka volunteers as a mentor with Helping Other People Succeed (HOPS), Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council (CRIEC) and is a study group leader with IIBA Calgary.

She also volunteers at the Calgary Drop-in Centre and Calgary Dream Centre. She is a Giving Back Sponsor for Women in Need Society (WINS).

Eka is the Linkedin Group Manager- Canadian Business Analysts and Project Managers Network & Canadian Professional Immigrants Network and Facebook Group Manager- Business Analysts Network where she provides support to immigrants in Canada.

She is the host of the podcast, Career Talk with Eno and Chichi, where she shares valuable insights on job search tips and strategies for new immigrants.

Her awards and achievements include:

Forbes 30 under 30 nominee 2020, Education Category

Calgary Top 40 under 40 nominee 2019

Universal Women’s Network, Winner 2019 Award for Mentorship

Globally recognized and featured by the IIBA for the CBAP Journey Campaign

Host of the Global Business Analyst Online Meetup

IIBA Global Corporate Member

IIBA Endorsed Education Provider for all IIBA certifications

Authorized Training Partner for Agile & Scrum through ScrumStudy

Finally, she launched the Business Analysis Accelerator Coaching Program where she is helping 1,000 professionals start their business analysis careers.

Emilia Matei was born in Romania. At 43, she emigrated to Canada with her husband and daughter. They settled in Windsor, Ontario, to be close to her brother, but nevertheless she was nervous about what their relocation would bring.

In Romania, she graduated from university with a degree in finance and accounting. She was an economist, then a general manager of a large trading company, and the budget and finance manager at the City Hall. Her background and the accounting courses she attended at St. Clair College in Windsor helped her to find employment at one of the most successful automotive companies in Windsor. She has been an accounting clerk with this company for 15 years and she is still happy to be part of this wonderful team.

When she lived in Romania, volunteering was not common. But in Windsor she discovered a dynamic culture of volunteering. Her first volunteering position was at the Tecumseh Museum, which was very meaningful. She learned about the history of this land and its people, and became confident that their new life in Canada would be good.

It was a busy time: She was going to school, taking care of her family, volunteering, looking for a job and going to the Romanian Church on Sundays to meet people from her community. At church, she learned about the Romanian Cultural Association “Graiul Romanesc” (“The Romanian Voice”), which was founded in 1929 by the first Romanians who arrived in Canada. In 2010, she was elected treasurer and then president. The association fosters a strongly knit community through numerous events: arts exhibitions, Canada Day, the National Day of Romania, Halloween, International Women’s Day, New Year’s Eve, literary events and concerts. They also participate in church events and multicultural festivals. They invest the funds raised into their children, by awarding bursaries for post-secondary education, and their community through donations to churches and to newly arrived families.

In her 10 years with the association, her goals have been to bring the community together, showcase their talents and achievements, and contribute to the wellbeing of those around her.

Dr. Henry Reis is a Brazilian-trained ophthalmologist who immigrated to Canada with his family in 2013 after successfully completing his optometric licensing process. Dr. Reis worked as an associate doctor before acquiring Integra Eyecare Centre in 2014. He transformed it into an innovation hub, launching new technologies in Canada such as virtual reality vision therapy, intense pulsed light and radiofrequency for dry eye disease, among others.

The unprecedented growth of 552 per cent in revenue and more than 20,000 new patients has driven him to build a world-class multidisciplinary eyecare centre in Vancouver, which will open in 2020. Considered a leader in his field, Dr. Reis was the recipient of 2018 J&J Canada Top 40 under 40 and finalist of 2019 BBOT Businessperson of the Year. He has given talks across Canada, Europe and South America on cornea, retina and glaucoma. He has worked as a consultant for nine medical companies and has led five research projects since 2014. He is also the chief medical advisor for I-MED Pharma, a Montreal-based pharmaceutical company.

Dr. Reis is the co-founder and CEO of OSDx, a Vancouver-based company that developed the first artificial intelligence corneal imaging device in the world. OSDx employs Canadians from coast to coast, from AI programmers in Montreal to medical engineers in Victoria, and anticipates launching its medical device in the first quarter of 2021.

His devotion to his profession motivated him to serve as BCDO vice-president and chair of the telemedicine committee for two years, when he promoted enhanced access to eyecare for seniors and rural communities. He has also volunteered with the Foundation Fighting Blindness by organizing fundraising events for retinal research, and TWECS (Third World Eye Care Society) by donating optical equipment and eyewear while sponsoring staff in missions to Peru and the Philippines.

Dr. Henry Reis strongly believes that those who come from far and wide and achieve the dream of immigrating to Canada should strive to give back to this beautiful nation and its people. For that reason, he has worked tirelessly to create new jobs in healthy and progressive workplaces, offer state-of-the-art eyecare services to an ever-expanding number of patients, push his profession forward by mentoring colleagues, and position Canada at the forefront of medical innovation. Above all, his greatest achievement is having his son, Benjamin, and his wife, Daniela, call Canada home.

A graduate of the School of Hotel Management and Culinary Arts in India, Divakar Raju began his career at the Taj Group of Hotels as a chef. In the time since, he has worked around the world and is a certified food professional. In 1998, Raju moved to Toronto, where his career progressed from positions in the Canadian hotel services toward food services in the retirement industry, and he joined the Delmanor (Tridel) Team in 2011.

For nearly a decade, Chef Divakar, affectionately called Chef D among the Delmanor community, has brought his passion and dedication to the Delmanor Team. He began working at the Northtown Delmanor Community before being promoted into the role of corporate manager of culinary services in 2015. As the Delmanor brand and community has grown, Raju has risen to every occasion, providing fresh, healthy and unique food options on each menu and setting forth the highest standards amongst his peers and his team. Raju strives to create a healthy corporate culture and increase the visibility of senior focused cuisine.

Working to spread the word about the benefits of such culture, Raju has penned articles for Delmanor itself and other key industry publications like Nourish Magazine for Sysco National, Canadian Restaurant and Food Service Magazine, and Resto Biz.

He works to pay it forward to meaningful charitable organizations and inspires others to do better and give back.

Raju mentors his chefs and fellow food service professionals, including those who are new to Canada, helping them gain their Canadian credentials (such as obtaining their Red Seal Chef Certification). He provides personal attention as someone with an intimate understanding of what it is like to be new to the country, allowing them to thrive and meet their personal and professional goals.

As part of a new partnership with the Toronto Police, Chef Divakar Raju is working with Pro-action Cops & Kids and the Falstaff Community Centre, and launched the Growing Chefs Youth Program. The program is designed to teach kids the basic and essential skills of a prep chef. Partners hope to introduce the participants to the culinary arts with the hopes of igniting a passion for cooking. But we also seek to go beyond the culinary world and hope to instill in each youth, life lessons that will transfer to any profession or endeavour.

Conny Lo came to Toronto in 1997 with two suitcases and limited funds. She had never been to Canada but she was destined to make her mark and a difference in her new home.

After a successful advertising and broadcasting career in Hong Kong, cultural differences and language barriers made it impossible for Lo to work in mainstream media. Finding a job where she could use her persuasive and creative talent was proving to be difficult.

With depleting savings and feeling unfulfilled, Lo decided to turn to volunteering. Giving back was an important part of her’s upbringing, and she knew that she could create a feeling of belonging through volunteering. She became the first Chinese speaking St. John Therapy Dog Volunteer. She and her dog — who was multilingual — generated much buzz and interest in the community.

Lo’s path was not always clear, but she knew the importance of helping new Canadians integrate into the mainstream. Lo wove this belief and her personal experience into her work. She knew the inertia that could be built communicating with people in a way that was familiar and inviting.

Lo brought this insight to both corporate and charitable enterprises. For Heart and Stroke, she restructured communication tools and redesigned an annual Health Symposium to include Mandarin sessions. She created multi-language communication platforms for Scotiabank, but what fed her soul was stewardship of the bank’s philanthropic giving.

In 2013, Lo joined SickKids Foundation (SKF). She was charged with leading the fundraising and promoting global child health in the Chinese community. An uncharted path, but Lo came to the table with a story and a passion that was irrefutable.

In 2012, Conny lost one of her twin sons to a congestive heart defect. Although swathed in grief, she turned her pain into something positive and therapeutic. Lo chose to give back and engage her community. She shared her story with others, she rallied her two young children to raise funds in memory of their brother and she continues to work relentlessly and passionately for SickKids.

Today, the Baby Caden Koo Memorial Fund has raised almost $200,000. Lo continues her charitable work and is driven to help new Canadians find their path.

Ciragh Lyons

Creative director, Pegasus Community ProjectCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: United Kingdom

Ciragh Lyons is the creative director of Pegasus Community Project, a non-profit providing activities and services to adults with developmental disabilities. Her job is to create opportunities for our participants to engage with the community, participate in the arts, have fun, and be fabulous.

One of her greatest professional achievements is PIFF, an annual film festival for adults with developmental disabilities. PIFF is a glitzy red-carpet event where everyone shows up looking like movie stars, but the big night is only the tip of the iceberg. The festival is the culmination of months of planning, preparing, filming, editing and anticipating. When the red carpet unrolls, everyone who walks or rolls down it worked hard to get there. Her vision is to empower the disability community by providing opportunities to create and star in movies. They started off with just Pegasus participants, but now have eight agencies submitting movies. More are interested in joining for the fourth annual PIFF this fall.

Another event Lyons created is the annual Pegasus Fashion Show. They partner with makeup students to get the models catwalk-ready. Her goal is to use wider community connections to make the disability community more visible, more active and more normalized. She wants to transform people’s impression of folks with disabilities from THEM to US.

Before Lyons became a permanent resident, she was a professional volunteer. It was important for her to connect with her new home in Toronto. She volunteered with eight different organizations, getting to know folks and neighbourhoods all over the city.

For example, she worked as a counsellor with the Rape Crisis Line. After a period of training, she answered calls on eight-hour shifts, often overnight. Those who called were seeking services, advice, and often just an empathetic ear as they talked through recent and past traumas.

She relived her teaching roots as a tutor for Pathways to Education, helping youth from low-income communities with their homework or projects.

She created Miss sui Generis, a free style-consultancy for trans women enabling them to build confidence presenting themselves to the world. I saw a need for trans women, especially those transitioning or recently transitioned, to get help finding styles and clothing that worked for them.

She also helped build Elephant Space, an afternoon program using board games to engage and informally counsel youth. When the organization started, she was there on the ground floor as volunteer coordinator. As the organization grew, Lyons became the vice-president of the board of directors, helping build Elephant Space into a successful non-profit.

Entrepreneur, leader, philanthropist and best-selling author, Bruce Poon Tip, is the founder of G Adventures, an award-winning small group adventure travel company and pioneer of community tourism.

G Adventures is the world’s largest small group adventure travel company, with 28 offices worldwide. It hosts 200,000 travellers per year, offers more than 750 tours, and travels to 100 countries — across all seven continents.

His first book, Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business, was released in 2013 and became a New York Times Best Seller. In 2018, Poon Tip was honoured as one of Canada’s Most Admired CEOs in the category of social entrepreneurship.

Last year, he was granted an honorary doctor of Laws from Capilano University and made his top 10 debut on Glassdoor’s Top CEOs in Canada list.

Bola Adesope is a passionate business transformation consultant, who combines expertise in supporting businesses across several continents solve complex business problems and deliver value to their customers and stakeholder, with a passion for human and economic development.

Adesope has consulted for big and small organizations across Africa, Europe and North America such as Bell Canada, delivering strategic and transformational programs.

He also has passion for human and community development. This passion, upon seeing the challenges and struggles of new immigrants, led him to co-found a social enterprise called Helping Other People Succeed (H.O.P.S), a platform that is dedicated to helping professionals, particularly immigrants settle in, launch their career and contribute to the economic development of Canada through free mentoring, coaching, training and mindset change.

The Nigerian-born strongly believes that immigrants play very strategic roles in advancing Canada’s economy, and since founding H.O.P.S with his longtime partner and friend, they have supported a community of more than 1,000 immigrant professionals across the country and beyond.

Some of the other initiatives he has launched under Helping Other People Succeed include:

Career Hacks, a free quarterly career workshop and seminar with hundreds of people in attendance.

ACCELERATE: A 30-day free coaching and mentoring program where he has provided free one-on-one mentoring and coaching to more than 250 professionals to date.

Career Brainstorming: A monthly online information session where he provides guidance and insights on a career or business topics to audience from all over the country and beyond.

Adesope also leads free agile and product development workshops for students in York University through an initiative called unhack, a hackathon where university students solve complex real-world problems within a short period of time. Besides leading workshops for these students, he also serves as a mentor and judge during the competition. He is also a mentor with TRIEC.

Adesope has been invited to speak at conferences and events for professional institutions and organizations across North America and beyond. He has also appeared on podcasts and shows across Europe and North America, won Strategy Development Competition 2015, and his articles and papers have won best article of the year 2018 and best article of the month of May 2017 on BA Times and PM Times respectively.

B.K. Sethi, immigrated to Canada in 1972. He earned an MBA in marketing from Central Michigan University, and his career has been focused on sales, product management and marketing.

During his weekly grocery shops, Sethi struggled to find the foods and authentic brands he grew up with. He saw a great opportunity to cater to newcomers and immigrants by providing them the food and brands they were familiar with. Within only 10 years, his “ethnic” brands could be readily found in most of the major chains across Canada. Ethnic foods have expanded from 4ft in 1982 to full two central aisles, accounting for over 200ft of the store.

Sethi expanded his business to cover all Canada with offices and warehouses in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, employing 50+ people across Canada and serving 1,500+ stores. He has always provided job opportunities to immigrants, giving many of them their first job in Canada, allowing them the chance to gain Canadian experience. His support expanded to entrepreneurs as well. His representation of their brands gave many small entrepreneurs exposure to the mainstream retailers and an opportunity to grow their brands in Canada.

Over the years, Sethi became an expert in ethnic food. His area of expertise was unique and he was approached by major multinationals, including Unilever, Kraft, Heinz, Cadbury, Robin Hood Multifoods, Dairy Farmers of Canada, SIAL-Canada and others to consult for them. Realizing the importance of sharing his knowledge, several of his articles were published in business media and he’s spoken at conferences and marketing seminars focused on the opportunities and challenges in ethnic markets.

Sethi is the recipient of the following awards:

Business Excellence Award, Scarborough Chamber of Commerce (Board of Trade)

GRAND PRIX award for his India House brand

Appointed ethnic expert at SIAL-Canada, world’s largest food show producers

Sethi is a member of the advisory council of OMNI/ROGERS TV on ethnic programming, member of the Toronto Board of Trade, director and senior advisor SME at Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, member of Food and Consumer Products Council of Canada and an active member of Hindu Cultural Society in Scarborough.

Sethi is regular contributor to many Canadian charities such as the Hospital for Sick Children, Canadian Cancer Society and Cystic Fibrosis Canada to name a few, understanding the importance of giving back to the country that gave him so much.

Bilal Hydrie

President and CEO, Inclusive Energy Ltd.City: CalgaryCountry of Origin: Pakistan

Bilal Hydrie, president and CEO of Inclusive Energy Ltd., has a proven knack for ingenuity, hard work, leadership and business success. He came to Canada from Pakistan 17 years ago where he completed his studies and started Inclusive Energy. Since then, Hydrie has been involved in many ventures, started several successful entities and has served as a board member and advisory for reputable publicly traded TSX companies such as Pennine Petroleum and i5 Capital.

Noticing the high entrepreneurial spirit in Alberta, Hydrie founded a private equity firm called Global Centurion Investments in 2017. This firm was established with one goal in mind — devotion to assisting new startups to build a strong foundation and get their first step off the ground.

Through the tough economic times, Hydrie was recognized several times in the industry for assisting companies to stay afloat. During the downturn, Inclusive Energy purchased distressed assets from companies in need of immediate capital. This benefited both Inclusive Energy, and the businesses struggling during the economic downturn.

Hydrie and his company Inclusive Energy are heavily involved in giving back to the community. This is evident in many ways, including sponsoring international students in the oil and gas, energy sectors by offering room and board, and internship opportunities at Inclusive Energy.

He has also supported and spread awareness in Canada about the Pakistan Deaf Reach Foundation, a school built especially for the deaf and blind orphan children who do not have the resources to flourish in countries where they are often not accepted in society.

Hydrie has offered many students with opportunities to study abroad, as he strongly believes that the future of the province lies with the up-and-coming generation. Other recent sponsorships include the Calgary Youth Singers, Calgary Energy Executives Association (CEEA), Toy Mountain, and ongoing contributions to the Calgary Petroleum Club as a Legacy Club member.

Hydrie demonstrates independent leadership by being involved in clubs such as the Calgary Petroleum Club, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, among others. He has been recognized as an industry leader by the Chamber of Commerce and has been featured as a cover story for both the Business in Calgary and Business in Edmonton magazines.

Basavaraj Halli

CTO, GoFor Industries Inc.City: OttawaCountry of Origin: India

Indian-born Basavaraj first arrived in Toronto on a temporary work permit in 2011, his first assignment was to design software for an industrial printer. The family’s initial plan was to experience Canadian living and winter, and return to India. However, the ever-charming Canada and the warmth of the Canadians made Halli and his family fall in love with Canada and they acquired permanent residency in 2015.

Soon after, Halli’s entrepreneurial skills and instincts started blossoming in Canada. He co-founded GoFor Industries Inc., which provides last-minute, last-mile delivery services to the construction industry, a major backbone of the Canadian economy. The company is a unique success story of Canada’s welcoming immigration policy, which laid the foundation for a successful partnership between an immigrant and a local, Brad Rollo.

The company has had an exceptional success as a startup and has attracted millions of dollars in funding from top tier VCs in North America. It has rapidly established itself as a leader and innovator in this segment, listing elite customers, such as The Home Depot, Home Hardware, Dulex and Sherwin-Williams. GoFor now has expanded its operations in 12 major urban markets in Canada as well as the U.S.A. and employs more than 60 people. Apart from enhancing the efficiency in the construction industry through its most innovative last-mile delivery services, GoFor is also helping an additional 500 drivers to earn their daily livelihood through its marketplace. GoFor has been recognized by many awards, such as Best Ottawa Business Awards, 2019. Halli now serves on the board of GoFor as well as its CTO.

“My mission is to innovate, develop and adopt technology to offer seamless and enjoyable experience in every aspect of human life,” says Halli, who also serves as an advisor to Competitive Value Guide, a company focused on enhancing innovation in medium and large enterprises. He also serves in leadership roles in many Indian community forums, such as in Kannada Sangha of Ottawa, which brings together Kannada-speaking people in Ottawa.
It’s been an amazing journey for Halli in Canada with his share of failures and success. His entrepreneurial spirit, leadership skills, tenacity to achieve success, ability to make friends and desire to build lasting partnership with local Canadians has helped him in building a highly successful global business.

Arlene Ruiz, the proud owner of Alexene Immigration & Employment Services Inc. and an ICCRC and CAPIC member, has been practising as a licensed immigration consultant and recruiter since December 2013 with the office situated in the heart of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

Ruiz immigrated to Canada in 1994 from the Philippines. Having gone through the immigration process herself, she understands the complexities of the process. With her dedication, she provides all aspects of recruitment and immigration services to Canadian employers and organizations through finding reliable, suitable and qualified workers to fill labour shortages in their organization. In addition, she provides immigration services to foreign nationals that intend to come to Canada either to study, work or become permanent residents.

Ruiz attended Saskatoon Business College in 1997 where she took Computer Accounting Technician Diploma and graduated with honours. In 2012, she took the one-year Immigration Consultant Diploma through Ashton College in Vancouver and completed the course and graduated with honours distinction. Ruiz is a big advocate on promoting the welfare of others not only through monetary value but also by rolling up her sleeves to push for a better community. She actively participates in the community by supporting charitable organizations such as ANCOP (Answering the Cry of the Poor), Make a Wish Foundation and the Children’s Wish Foundation. She is an active member of the Business Network International-Business Elite Network Saskatoon, Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan and Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.

Very recently, Ruiz received the Consumer Choice Awards 2020 in the category of immigration consulting. She has also been recently named as one of the Top Finalists for the Saskatoon Achievement in Business Excellence Awards (SABEX) in the Entrepreneur of the Year category with the gala taking place April 24, 2020. SABEX awards are Saskatoon’s premier business awards, honouring businesses in the community that exemplify high performance, quality and achievement.

Ruiz’s passion for helping others is very evident whenever she speaks about her job. Family reunification is very important for her and sees her profession as an opportunity to help families fulfill dreams — and it’s right in her business slogan “Helping families fulfill dreams.”

Annie Chua-Frith is a mother, grandmother, business owner and writer in Edmonton, Alberta. She came to Fort McMurray, Alberta under the Live-In Caregiver Program, which gave thousands an opportunity to become permanent residents and reunified with their family.

Before migrating to Canada, she had a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the prestigious Centro Escolar University in the Philippines. Right after graduation, she started working in an international freight forwarding company and did many travels to Asia where she learned about the caregiver program in Canada.

She decided to go to Canada in order to give her children a better place to live and create a new life. Although settling in Canada was harder than she imagined, it has given her much more than she expected. She continues to learn new things, confront new challenges and enjoy new experiences. With this optimistic ambition, she did not realize that she will become more than a caregiver, but she established her own businesses, Assured Cargo International Ltd., and Voyable Travel and Tours Inc. and became involved in Alberta’s Filipino Canadian community.

Her involvement became bigger and wider that it inspired her to write her own journey and published her book in 2015 called Domestically Yours: A Caregiver’s Inspiring Journey. She wrote this to inspire many of her “kababayans” (countrymen) and it became a bestseller in Amazon under elder care category in 2015. Her immigration story has something in common with countless others — heartbreaks and hardship. With overcoming adversities, she says she’s an example that Filipinos are resilient and persistent.

Being an active member of Filipino Canadian organizations gave her an opportunity to give back, raise funds, attend conferences and give speeches to various schools to empower children and help them to settle in their new country. She is currently president of the Philippine Bayanihan Association in Alberta, a non-profit organization in Alberta since 1968; Golden Balangay Awards Host Ambassador in Alberta; committee member of Philippine Business Society of Alberta; member of the Philippine Arts Council; volunteer of Edmonton Philippine International Centre; Former PRO of Vismin Association of Edmonton; former president of Millwoods Vocabolaires Toastmasters Club.

She was also the winner of Most Outstanding Worker “Manggagawang Pilipino” of 2017, Golden Balangay Awards (Toronto).

Anjum Sultana

National director of public policy & strategic communications, YWCACity: TorontoCountry of Origin: India

Recently named a 2020 Global Woman of Distinction by the NGO Committee on the United Nations Committee on the Status of Women, Anjum Sultana is an internationally recognized advocate for progressive public policies to create a more just and equitable society. Sultana has international development experience in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania and has co-authored peer-reviewed research articles focusing on health equity, mental health and global health.

Currently, Sultana serves as the national director of public policy & strategic communications at YWCA Canada, the nation’s oldest and largest women’s serving organization. The YWCA Canada Federation has 32 member associations and works in 300 communities across the country. Sultana is also the founder of Millennial Womxn in Policy, a grassroots organization and community of practice that connects more than 3,000 young women and non-binary people working in policy across North America and Europe in civil society, politics, private sector and public service. Since 2018, the organization has hosted over 12 events in cities across Canada including Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. Sultana is active in the Muslim community and has volunteered with organizations such as the Canadian-Muslim Vote and the Muslim Youth Fellowship.

Sultana serves on the boards of the Regent Park Community Health Centre, Toronto Environmental Alliance and the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians. She is also founding advisor of Progress Toronto and served as Canadian delegate at the 2019 G7 Youth Summit in Paris, France. Sultana sits on several research, organizational and policy advisory committees including being a strategic advisor for KimboCare, an online platform to enable health care access and reduce financial barriers in Global South nations. Sultana is part of the Global Shaper Community, which is affiliated with the World Economic Forum and a member of the Toronto Hub. She is also part of the Ontario Council for International Cooperation’s Gender Equality and Youth Policy-Makers Hubs.

Sultana holds a master’s in public health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Previously, she served as the executive co-director of IMAGINE, an interprofessional medical clinic and health promotion initiative affiliated with the University of Toronto. She has received several awards to celebrate and honour her community service and civic leadership including the 2019 Frances Lankin Inspiring Leadership Community Service Award by Social Planning Toronto and the International Women’s Day Award of Excellence by Punjabi Community Health Services.

Anil Thapa

CEO, Yashaswi EntertainmentCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Nepal

Anil Thapa is founder and CEO of Yashaswi Entertainment, a media house which has produced an ethnic radio show on the Canadian Multicultural Radio 101.3 FM in the Great Toronto Area since 2005. He also organizes many events (concerts, professional networking gatherings, mini-film festivals, trade shows, film screenings, cultural festivals and sports) to promote Nepali culture within Canada.

His radio show “Namaste Radio; Voice of the Nepalese Speaking Communities” educates and entertains Canadians with the rich Nepalese culture, heritage and music, and promotes local Nepali entrepreneurs, artists, community leaders and organizations in the Great Toronto Area and beyond.

He is also currently a marketing and operational head of Everest Realty Ltd., a real estate brokerage established by Madan Chhetri and which is the first Canadian brokerage run by Nepalese people.

He is also engaged in several Canadian organizations to help the health sector, schools and women’s empowerment in Nepal and to integrate newcomers into Canadian society. Currently, he is an advisor in several Canadian organizations and the Nepalese Canadian Cricket Club, to promote youth through the sports.

In 2015, two major earthquakes hit Nepal and killed more than 10,000 people, leaving several hundred thousand of people homeless. Under Thapa’s leadership in the national organization of the Canadian Nepalese people (NRNA-Canada), they raised more than $150,000 to support victims of the earthquake. They worked very closely with the Canadian government, the Nepalese Honorary Consulate Office in Toronto and the Nepal Embassy in Ottawa to support Nepal in rehabilitation and reconstruction projects. They established a separate desk for Nepal at the Canadian High Commission in India to look after the victims and the family members of Canadian Nepalese, whose cases were expedited for their reunion with loved ones. Many Nepalese organizations including Thapa are lobbying with the Canadian government to open a trade and visa office in Kathmandu.

Thapa was given several awards in Canada for his dedication and volunteer services. In 2017, the City of Mississauga honoured him with their highest civilian award “Citizen of the Year.”

Before moving to Canada from Nepal in 2005, Thapa was a helicopter airlines pilot and flew hundreds of hours to rescue and export goods in the rural and remote terrain of the Himalayas.

In December 2005, his story was covered by the Toronto Star Newspaper in a full page spread and he was interviewed by several other ethnic and mainstream media.

Ananya Mukherjee Reed immigrated to Canada in 1995 and joined Canadian academia as a professor. Over the last 25 years, she has emerged as a widely recognized female visible minority leader with top roles in two of Canada’s largest universities in Ontario and B.C. In Ontario’s York University, she was dean of a faculty with 23,000 students from 123 countries. Currently she is provost and vice-president academic, University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan — a fast-growing campus of one of the world’s top 40 universities. Mukherjee Reed’s leadership to UBC Okanagan in its pursuit of academic excellence and student success is seen to have a profoundly positive impact and is deeply appreciated by the academic community. With the persistent lack of diversity and female leadership in the uppermost echelons of Canadian academia, these are tremendous achievements.

Mukherjee Reed obtained her Ph.D. (political economy and public policy) from the University of Southern California, and her BA and MA in economics from Jadavpur University, India. Her scholarship focuses on people-centered development. She has authored and edited several books, published in journals, reports and in popular media. At York University, Mukherjee Reed became the founding director of the International Secretariat for Human Development (ISHD), which undertook research with community partners on people-centered social change. She led ISHD’s collaborations with global institutions such as the International Labour Organization, Geneva; the UN Office for Project Services, Rome; the UN Development Program; the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) etc. Her current research (with UNRISD) examines the role of universities in overcoming inequality.

Mukherjee Reed’s volunteer work is extensive. She has untiringly mentored countless students and newcomers to overcome many challenges, and continues to do so. A talented translator and orator, Mukherjee Reed promotes the work of the Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore to the Canadian mainstream. Performed in prime venues in Toronto, these events have attracted large multicultural audiences. She has commented frequently in the media and has been interviewed by the Toronto Star, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, BBC online, The Hindu, Radio France, TV Ontario, the CBC, OMNI TV etc.

Mukherjee Reed was named as one of five Immigrant Women of Inspiration (Canadian academia) by Canadian Immigrant magazine in 2016. She received the Skills for Change Pioneer of Change award (Excellence in Social Impact category) in 2016; the Distinguished Alumna Award of the Jadavpur University Alumni Association in Toronto (2018); and the Desi Achiever award by Desi News, 2012.

Alma Arzate is currently a global director, supply planning at Apotex Inc. She has more than two decades of broad leadership experience across global supply chain and operations in the automotive, electronics, medical devices, cpg and pharmaceutical industries.

Despite her sometimes hectic professional and personal life, Arzate makes the time to actively support supply chain, education, women and immigrant-related initiatives.

From the supply chain standpoint, she contributes as a board advisor for Supply Chain Canada. Arzate has helped execute successful education events that brought together over 150+ supply chain professionals for development and networking. In May 2019, Arzate was a guest speaker at Supply Chain Canada’s “Future Leaders: Talent in Supply Chain”, which drew 100+ attendees. Her story was shared on the cover of the October 2019 edition of Supply Professional magazine.

On the education front, Arzate was the Keynote Speaker for 60+ students from the Schulich School of Business in September 2019. In November 2019, she was a panelist for more than 80 students from George Brown College. Arzate also supports the student body of the Rotman School of Management (UofT), Conestoga College and Wilfried Laurier University. Alma was granted the Mentor Leader Award in 2019 by CSPN.

From the women in leadership perspective, Arzate leads by example and presses for women advancement as part of the founding core team of Apotex Inc.’s WIL Initiative. In March 2019, she was selected by Supply Chain Canada as part of their first-ever “Top 100 Most Influential Women in Canadian Supply Chain.” She was also keynote panelist for 120+ women at the “Take the Lead: Women in Supply Chain” in September 2019 in London, Ontario.

On immigrant-related initiatives, Arzate was the keynote speaker at ACCES Employment in August 2019 for 50+ internationally trained professionals, to help ease their integration into the Canadian work environment. She has been a mentor and friend to several immigrants that have reached out to her on a 1:1 basis over the years for advice and support. Most recently, the president of Supply Chain Canada asked Arzate to act as a chair for the National Selection Committee, as part of their new initiative to recognize “Canadian Immigrants Impacting Supply Chain” in 2020.

Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Arzate relocated with her family to Canada in 2007. She resides in the GTA with her husband, their three children (ages 12, 14 and 20), their dog, and their rescued 12-year-old tabby cat.

Ajibola (Jibs) Abitoye was elected as a councillor for the City of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, in October 2017, five years after immigrating to Canada from Nigeria.

Abitoye was born in Lagos, Nigeria to a journalist father and an information technology mom. She moved from Nigeria to Fort Saskatchewan in 2012 after getting married to her husband, Joshua. She has a bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Lagos and is certified as a project management professional and a fourth class power engineer from NAIT.

Her previous work experience includes project cost controller at Dow Chemical, financial services representative at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), and credit risk analyst at the Guaranty Trust Bank in Nigeria.

Abitoye has volunteered on the Family & Community Support Services Board, Navy League Cadet and as the chair of the Fort Saskatchewan Multicultural Association within her first year of immigrating to Canada. In 2017, she decided to take her involvement within her community to another level by running for city council. She ran against 14 incredible candidates and emerged with the third highest votes. She currently is serving a four-year term as city councillor until 2021.

In November 2019, she started a fashion line called Divineity Fashion, after she had her daughter. It was borne out of a need to economically help women in her country of origin, Nigeria. In 2017, the family went back home to visit grandparents. She saw the economic condition in some areas and wanted to do something about it. She decided to start designing clothes and get them produced in Nigeria, thereby bringing business to empower women and families. A portion of the profit also goes to a local organization in Alberta supporting victims of domestic violence.

In February 2020, she had the rare privilege of showcasing her collection at the prestigious New York Fashion Week, only three months after starting her fashion line. She showed eight designs on the runway with other designers from various parts of the world and has had a lot of success after that. She has been featured on CTV, Global Edmonton, CBC and various newspapers and radio stations, among others.

She also mentors young immigrant girls to be a better version of themselves and is a committed worker in the church. She does all these things while being married and having three kids aged five years old and younger.

Ali Tootian landed in Canada on March 13, 1999, as an immigrant with wife and son. He held a B.Sc. in engineering, but went back to school and received a professional teaching certificate from Simon Fraser University and later received a master’s in secondary mathematics. He is currently a math teacher at Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam, B.C.

Beyond his classes, he established the Table Tennis Club and became the champion of B.C. high schools. He also established the Math Contest Club and helped Gleneagle rank among the top 50 Canadian high schools in national and international math contests. He also established the STEAM Club at the school, the first of its type in the district. He also established an Iranian Parent Advisory Council at Pinetree Secondary School, where he worked from 2004 to 2009.

In 2013, he established the Farhangian Educators Association, a registered not-profit organization to help with K-12 concerns of Iranian-Canadians. He invited several teachers and researchers and prepared and published the first Farsi as a second language set of non-religious and non-political textbooks (four books and two practice-books so far) in Canada. York District in Toronto is one of the first users of the books, and Greater Vancouver Farsi program will start using it next year.

Tootian also prepared and presented educational workshops such as “Bullying at Schools” and “Tutor Training” for newcomers. He provided free counselling to parents and students who are new to the Canadian education system and seek help with registration, course taking, post-secondary education, and more.

In the community, he has been a member of the board of directors of Burnaby Multicultural Society, a member of the steering committee of Burnaby Ethnocultural Advisory Council, and a member of the board of directors of the CIVIC Association of Iranian-Canadians. With CIVIC, he helps in preparing and holding educational events such as all-candidate meetings to teach others about their responsibility toward elections and civic duties in Canada.

Aishwarya Khanduja

CEO, LoopEducation Inc.City: CalgaryCountry of Origin: India

Aishwarya Khanduja’s gift in service to the world is a connection to those most in need, using her entrepreneurial ambition to build commercial solutions for social justice and public health. Inspired by her lived experience, Khanduja founded the non-profit First Generations Organization (1GO), which is a national ambassador providing support, advocacy and outreach to disadvantaged high school students. Building upon this success and wanting to make a long-term sustainable solution, the 22-year-old founded a social enterprise startup, LoopEducation Inc., an academic strategy and consulting company, where she is able to create an ecosystem by employing post-secondary students as strategists, who are able to leverage their lived experience and acquire meaningful work experience, while providing disadvantaged high school students with crucial services at an accessible rate.

While helping other students actualize their potentials in an organic entrepreneurial capacity, Khanduja is passionate about maternal and child health, and during her undergrad, developed a diagnostic tool to differentiate between two hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Inspired by witnessing wait-times as a hospital volunteer for eight years, Khanduja developed a Patient Care Transition (PCT) Score. Patients denied critical care is untenable for the modern age, so she developed a rubric that can be integrated into a usable technology for hospital staff to determine whether a patient requires a bed at triage. This idea won Top 5 at World’s Challenge, resulting in a probable pilot and app development.

Currently, Khanduja is working in the biotech space by using bluetooth mesh network technology to rid Canadian hospitals of pagers, along with a prototype for a personalized nutrition monitoring device that would screen and analyze an individual’s metabolic data through urinalysis. She is the epitome of someone who is able to clearly see leverage points within systems in order to innovate. Khanduja will spend the next year at the University of Cambridge commercializing her biotech and healthcare implementation prototypes at the intersection of biomedical science, law, and business, while completing her master’s degree.

Khanduja has been invited to speak at the Canadian National Perinatal Research Meeting in 2018 and 2020 about her work on pregnancy disorders. She has been invited to share her story of equitable access to quality education in a TEDx talk and the Global Youth Leaders Summit. She is a Top 20 Under 25, Top 30 Under 30, 2x Immigrants of Distinction finalist, NEXT36 finalist, and a true social innovator.

Agnes Thomas, Ph.D., is the executive director of Catholic Crosscultural Services (CCS), a Greater Toronto Area-based non-profit organization that provides programs and services assisting in the settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees. As the chief steward of CCS, Thomas is committed to driving impact for the 30,000 plus newcomers served by CCS yearly in their suite of programs and services. Thomas served in the not-for-profit sector for more than two decades locally and internationally. This includes her time at various L’Arche communities around the world, at the Yonge Street Mission, and the Jane/Finch Family and Community Centre. She also serves on a number of non-profit boards in Toronto.

Indian-born Thomas is a leading community development practitioner and academic with a passion for gender equity, community mobilization and transformation, and organizational change. She has been a long-time advocate for the rights of marginalized groups, both locally and internationally, championing the rights of immigrants, women, children, and people with in/visible disabilities or those in precarious employment situations.

In her leadership role, Thomas is committed to working with various partners to address issues of marginality to bring about transformational change in our communities by investing in people, shifting organizational cultures and diversifying partnerships. Her areas of expertise include immigration and settlement issues, community organizing, governance, policy, strategic planning, community-based research, training, micro-enterprise, and the creation of tools for transformative learning initiatives for organizations and community leaders alike.

Her passion for advocating for the rights of marginalized groups led her to complete and receive her Ph.D. in adult education and community development with an award-winning thesis from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research examined marginality and learning in the realm of informal/cash work performed by immigrant women from Asia. With this study and other community-based research under her direction, she was able to conceive and implement inclusive learning frameworks and analytical tools to listen to voices that are not traditionally heard, nor understood.

Thomas was recognized as a Canadian South Asian Trailblazer and a champion for gender equity by the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), an umbrella organization of agencies providing services to the South Asian community, to celebrate South Asian Heritage Month 2019. She is a firm believer that everyone has something unique to offer and should be given every opportunity to participate and contribute tangibly to society.

Ahmad Shahroodi

President, CivilTech EduHub Inc.City: OttawaCountry of Origin: Iran

Ahmad Shahroodi, P.Eng., came to Canada from Iran on a study permit to follow his appetite for higher education in the field of civil engineering in 2006. He was awarded a full scholarship for his master’s studies from the University of Toronto (UofT). Upon his graduation, he was offered a research position with the UofT. A few months of working there as a research fellow, Shahroodi decided to experience the Canadian civil engineering industry by gaining hands-on experience. As a result, he applied for a management position that would allow him to focus more on his specialty in the concrete industry.

In 2011, Shahroodi started his position as a quality control manager in Toronto. After 12 months of practical knowledge in the engineering industry, his desire to learn and teach led him to pursue his doctorate studies at the University of Ottawa, where he was granted the admission scholarship in 2012. During his Ph.D. studies, he received his Canadian citizenship and professional engineering (P.Eng.) licence.

While working on his licensing application to become a professional engineer, Shahroodi recognized that the procedure of engineering licensing in Canada is challenging, particularly for newcomers with international engineering degrees. He saw this complication as a severe risk to the career development of newcomers in the engineering industry of Canada. In addition to internationally educated newcomers, sadly, new graduates from Canadian universities also experience the same lack of knowledge about the professional licensing process in Canada. Consequently, these talents often cannot find a proper engineering position in Canada.
Shahroodi started thinking of possible ways that could make this challenge easier for applicants. After spending a year of comprehensive research and conducting several interviews with the experts, he was able to find the solutions that can help who desires to serve and protect the safety of the Canadian public as professional engineers. Shahroodi registered an educational company, called CivilTech EduHub Inc (CivilTech) in 2015. The primary mission of CivilTech is to introduce newcomers to the importance of engineering licensing and educate them about the process of licensing. His company offers full-day workshops, seminars and mentorship in community centres and universities about engineering licensing in Canada. Now, through Shahroodi’s excitement to remove roadblocks for his peers, many engineering degrees holders have been able to apply for the P.Eng. licence and develop their engineering career in Canada.

Adela Crossley

Barrister and solicitorCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Guyana

Adela Crossley has been changing and saving lives through passionate, compassionate and empathetic legal services serving the GTA for more than a decade. Since opening her own practice in 2007, Crossley has been practising in the areas of immigration and refugee law, family law and child protection. She provides services in multiple languages and she works closely with many immigrant communities.

Crossley graduated from the University of Toronto with an honours degree in history and political science. She then attended law school at Osgoode Hall, York University and obtained her bachelor of law degree, and master’s degree in administrative law and a second master’s degree in family law from Osgoode. Crossley has extensive training in child protection law. She regularly provides presentations and workshops on immigration, domestic violence, as well as family and child protection law. She is especially adept at navigating the intersection between immigration and family law and has special expertise in Hague Convention applications.

Throughout the years, she has established a solid relationship with many women’s shelters, community organizations and churches and provides advice and assistance to several. She is a referral lawyer for these community organizations and shelters and is a consulting lawyer for the Mexican Consulate in Canada. She is on the board of directors for the FCJ Refugee Centre.
Crossley has received extensive training in the area of domestic violence and is on the domestic violence panel at Legal Aid Ontario. Additionally, she is a member of the area committee at Legal Aid Ontario and COSTI Immigrant Services, Women of Courage Program. Crossley has extensive experience appearing before various tribunals such as the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Social Benefits Tribunal. She regularly appears before the Federal Court of Canada, the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice, as well as representing detained and incarcerated individuals.
She saves lives that would be lost if they returned home. She saves women and children from certain assault, trauma or even death by fighting for their right to live and be safe as refugees in Canada. Her own experiences as an immigrant and as the parent of a severely disabled child make her especially dedicated to disability issues and advocating for the disabled. Crossley continues to lead the way and is a shining example of an immigrant who is committed to giving back to those communities that need it most.

Adeola Olubamiji

Scientist and founder of STEMHub FoundationCity: TorontoCountry of Origin: Nigeria

Adeola Olubamiji, Ph.D., is a scientist who specializes in metal and plastic additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing). She came to Canada from Nigeria seven years ago, and became the first black person to obtain a PhD in biomedical engineering from the 112-year-old University of Saskatchewan, Canada in 2017. In 2018, Olubamiji joined Cummins Inc. as its first additive manufacturing specialist. At her current role, she leads development of processes for laser powder bed fusion and binder jet technologies. Her academic contributions have yielded several scholarly scientific publications, scientific conference presentations, a TEDx talk and contributions on several high-profile scientific panels.

Olubamiji is the founder of STEMHub Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting engagement of minorities and females in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. STEMHub Foundation has engagements in Ontario and Nigeria, 40 active volunteers and 32,000 followers on social media. In the last two years, STEMHub Foundation has aided 2,000 youths in Canada and more than 3,000 youth living in Africa. Their programs include free, hands-on workshops on various STEM topics to students (Grade 2-12) in visible-minority-dominated, female-dominated and underserved communities across the Greater Toronto Area.

Some of their partners are Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment, Frontlines Toronto, Restoration House Hamilton, Lady Ballers’ Female Basketball Team and more. In addition, we provide one-to-one mentoring program that strategically pairs mentees and mentors based on career progression needs, and long-term career goals (approximately 150 served). We also provide free university application reviews and payment of admission coverage fees for people seeking admissions and scholarships opportunities for graduate degrees. Their regular stream of scholarships shared on their pages also provides access to students who need fellowship and scholarship opportunities and we have several success stories of this. Lastly, STEMHub Foundation has continued to provide skills to women and youth in Nigeria. Some of their work include hosting of a three-week tie & dye engineering, sponsoring of graphics design training hosted by the Female Designer Movement and yearly sponsor a technology hackathon called NaijaHacks.

For her contributions to the manufacturing industry, introduction of metal additive manufacturing to Cummins Inc. and her work giving back to the community, Olubamiji has won several awards. Some of the awards include 2020 STEP (Science Technology Engineering and Production) Award by the Manufacturing Institute, 2019 Influential Women in Manufacturing Award by Putman Media, 2019 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth Canada Honoree, among others.

Loizza Aquino

Student; activistCity: WinnipegCountry of Origin: Philippines

Loizza Aquino is an 18-year-old social justice activist. She has been involved with social activism since the age of nine, but, in 2015, she started to focus on mental health advocacy in 10th grade after she lost one of her best friends to suicide. He was one of four high school students in Winnipeg that died by suicide within the timespan of one month.

After a countless number of hours spent on trying to find answers as to why this was happening, Aquino realized that she needed to stop searching for answers, but instead, create solutions to ensure this would never happen again. This inspired Aquino to create her own youth-led non-profit organization at the age of 15 called Peace of Mind. Her organization holds events called Youth Against Metal Health and Illness Stigma (YAMHIS), which provides a safe space and platform for students across the province to share their stories and experiences in regards to mental health.

A handful of high schools across Manitoba have created Peace of Mind groups within their school to sustain mental health conversations throughout the school year. Since 2015, they have reached more than 2,000 students, and have expanded from Manitoba to Ontario. These events have inspired students to get help and have even saved students’ lives.

Aquino has worked alongside a branch of the Government of Manitoba on several projects. She is a public speaker who has received many different accolades for her work in the topic of mental health, online safety and media literacy, youth empowerment and human rights. Her past awards include the Young Humanitarian Award of Manitoba, Global Bayaning Filipino Award, TD Scholarships for Community Leadership and the Youth Premier Healthy Living Award.

Aquino also recently created her own scholarship fund to empower other youth mental health activists and support across Canada and the Philippines. Aquino is a student at the University of Toronto, pursuing a double major in mental health studies and international development studies, with a minor in public policy and governance. She hopes to work for the United Nations one day to create policies for mental health across the world.